MANILA, Philippines - Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Ed de Mesa on Tuesday said he and other members of the Malacañang legal team found no basis to initiate any criminal investigation against police and government officials involved in the August 23 hostage crisis.
In an interview, de Mesa said the Palace legal team first laid down the legal premises of the review of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) recommendations to clear up misconceptions or false premises about its intent.
He said the legal review was conducted on the premise that "there is no crime if there is no law that defines it as such and provides a penalty, and that not all mistakes are criminal."
De Mesa said the legal review, which was conducted by himself, Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa Jr. and 2 other lawyers, disagreed with the IIRC recommendations that some of the officials tasked to handle the hostage fiasco should be charged criminally.
He added that the recommended administrative charges were the ones that were deemed most tenable and can prosper against the persons involved.
"We feel this is the fairest...Our objective was to try to find the charges against those who can be held responsible, which will most probably be tenable, or can prosper in court," he told ANC "Headstart" host Karen Davila.
President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on Monday ordered charges to be filed against Manila's police chief and 3 other law enforcement officials over the August 23 hostage crisis in Manila. Aquino called for lesser charges against Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and a deputy Ombudsman but spared his closest aides after studying an official inquiry into the incident, which left 8 Hong Kong tourists dead.
His key aides, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno, escaped any official sanction with Aquino saying he had instead decided to "admonish" them.
The hostage fiasco, in which a disgraced policeman took over a tourist bus in Manila, soured relations with Hong Kong and Beijing, and proved an embarrassment for the president in his first months in office.
Aquino said "appropriate charges," including serious neglect of duty, would be filed against the head of the capital's police force, the district police chief, the head of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and the police hostage negotiator.
De Mesa said the Palace legal team actually approved most of the IIRC's recommendations in its fact-finding report.
In the case of the police officers, he said most will be charged with violating the Philippine National Police (PNP) Uniform Rules that sets guidance for the governing of discipline of PNP officials and men. He said local officials such as Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim will be charged with violating the Local Government Code.
In the case of Manila Police District chief Rodolfo Magtibay, de Mesa said the MPD chief will face charges of gross incompetence and serious neglect of duty for failing to fully comply with all of his obligations as ground commander of the crisis management committee.
"He did not organize all the sub groups of the crisis management committee. He was supposed to be on the scene all the time but there was a portion particularly during a critical moment before Mendoza shot that he left. And he violated some of the guidelines of the manual like when he talked directly to the hostage-taker, and he allowed certain people to talk to the hostage-taker," he said.
He also pointed out that under the PNP Uniform Rules, the maximum penalty of the charges against Magtibay is dismissal.
"Well, we leave that up to the National Police Commission to decide the penalty. There's a range of penalty, the maximum is dismissal," he said.
In the case of Lim, he said the Palace legal team recommended that he be charged with misconduct and simple neglect of duty under the Local Government Code for failing to fully activate the crisis management committee and for leaving the command post without leaving instruction for anybody to take charge.
Asked why no criminal charge will be filed against Lim, de Mesa said: "The crisis management committee was only supposed to be advisory to the ground on-scene commander. They were just supposed to be there to support, but even that, we feel they did not fully comply with their obligations."
"If the evidence and his actions actions justify a heavier offense, we would have done so," he added.
De Mesa also noted that Lim actually faces a range of penalties under the Local Government Code from reprimand to dismissal. He said that in certain rare situations, a local court could even recommend a mayor's dismissal for an offense.
De Mesa said he will leave it up to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to decide what penalty to impose on Lim based on their recommendations.
"We will leave that up to the secretary of DILG because they have to be heard. These are just our recommendations based on prima facie findings. All the persons involved will be given the chance to be heard and present evidence or arguments to justify or to explain why they should not be held liable for the offense they're being charged with," he said.
De Mesa said the Palace legal team recommended charges of less grave neglect of duty and neglect of duty against NCRPO chief Leocadio Santiago and Supt. Orlando Yebra respectively because their offenses were less grave in nature.
In the case of Santiago, the NCRPO chief failed to closely supervise Magtibay while Yebra was cited for "losing his cool" and failing to alert his superiors that there was a change in the attitude of the hostage-taker "that the hostage taker has become more agitated and violent."
He said Chief Inspector Santiago Pascual III, head of the local SWAT team, was cited for failing to formulate the proper strategy on how to assault the bus.
"It appears that despite the lapse of 10 hours, they did not come up with the sufficient ...strategy to carry out the assault," he said.
The President's lawyer also pointed out that the bus assault did not lead to the deaths of the hostages.
"I think we should put this incident in a proper perspective...The assault had nothing to do with the death of the hostages. The hostages were shot prior to the assault, and the most harm the bungled assault did was to delay assistance rendered to hostages wounded. So we felt that you should separate the death of hostages from the bungled assault," he said.
De Mesa, meanwhile, defended Malacañang's decision not to recommend any administrative or criminal sanction against then PNP chief Jesus Verzosa, Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno, and Manila Vice-Mayor Isko Moreno for the hostage fiasco.
On Verzosa, de Mesa said the PNP chief is not the direct superior of Magtibay. "We do not expect him to drop everything for the hostage crisis," he said.
He added that there was not enough evidence to recommend charges against Puno.
"He was not part of crisis management committee, he was not Magtibay's superior. His only job was to relay information to the President. He did not break any law," he said.
De Mesa said there was no pressure from the President to absolve Puno in the hostage crisis. Puno is a close friend of the President.
On the other hand, de Mesa also recommended the filing of criminal charges and dismissal of Gregorio Mendoza, brother of the hostage-taker. "He served as an accomplice to the hostage-taker by going to the scene armed, and adding to hostage taker's demands," he said.
De Mesa said he stands by Palace review, and says it is "the fairest for everyone and charges recommended may likely prosper in court."
He said the review was not "compromised" in any way.
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