Release of hostage report put off again

President Benigno Aquino III was supposed to release on Wednesday the report of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC), along with the review by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa.

But Malacañang said the President had decided to put off the issuance of the IIRC report until after his report on Thursday of his accomplishments in his first 100 days in office. No new date was mentioned.

The President is expected to deliver a speech on Thursday about the “significant” accomplishments of his 100-day-old administration in a “town hall” gathering at La Consolacion College near Malacañang.

After the speech, dubbed “Isang Daang Araw Sa Isang Daang Matuwid: Report Kay Boss” (100 Days in One Straight Road: Report to the Boss), Mr. Aquino will entertain questions from the audience, the Palace said.

A day after giving him high marks for his first 100 days, Sen. Joker Arroyo Wednesday criticized Mr. Aquino for vacillating in releasing the recommendations of the five-member IIRC headed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

“That is indecision. Further delay is not good,” Arroyo said.

The President has not only dilly-dallied, but he also has yet to give the Senate a full version of the IIRC report, which the Chinese had obtained two weeks ago, Arroyo said.

Eight Hong Kong tourists were killed during the 11-hour standoff at Rizal Park that sparked outrage in China and its southern territory last month. The hostage-taker, dismissed Senior Insp. Rolando Mendoza who was seeking dismissal of extortion and robbery charges against him, also was gunned down.

Let IIRC do job

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile Wednesday suggested that to avoid further delay, Mr. Aquino should return the IIRC report to De Lima and let the Department of Justice decide who should be charged for the embarrassing incident.

“I don’t want to say this, but if I were in the place of the President, I will refer the recommendation to the secretary of justice and tell her to proceed as you recommended and who will not be prosecuted because the function of prosecution belongs to the secretary of justice, not Malacañang,” Enrile said.

He said the IIRC report should be read by the President simply as “a source of information” and not a prelude to a conviction of individuals.

“I created you, you investigate, you do your job, prosecute everybody. After all, you are not condemning them, they’re going to be in defense, they have the courts to prove their innocence and represent themselves. You’re not pronouncing them guilty,” Enrile said.

He said the President could be taking long in reviewing the report because the IIRC could have rushed its fact-finding job.

Asked by Palace reporters when he would release the IIRC report, the President simply texted back “after” without specifying when that would be.

“We’re busy preparing for the first 100 days report,” Mr. Aquino further explained in another text message.

‘What we’re trying to do’

Mr. Aquino has said he had adopted most of the IIRC recommendations and had confirmed to the Inquirer that close friends Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno would be among 13 people to be held administratively or criminally accountable.

“We just want to focus on the first 100 days report and then move on to the report on the IIRC recommendations,” spokesperson Ricky Carandang said in a phone interview without elaborating.

Mr. Aquino on Tuesday night said that his report on his first 100 days would not run more than 10 pages. “So we want to take only the most significant and demonstrative of what we are trying to do.”

In a Palace statement, Mr. Aquino said his report would include improvements on the country’s growth, job creation and “look at what has happened so far.”

Christine Avendano & Gil Cabacungan, Phil. Daily Inquirer