Category: Benigno Aquino III

Review of the review: Verzosa, Puno, Moreno cleared

Published by Ellen on October 6, 2010

By Regina Bengco
Malaya

Malacanang has cleared three officials and downgraded the punishment recommended on a few others by the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) in connection with the botched hostage rescue attempt last August 23.

This was revealed in documents obtained on the Palace legal team’s review of the IIRC report, which President Aquino was supposed to release yesterday. The legal team is composed of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and chief presidential legal counsel Eduardo de Mesa.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said President Aquino did not release the Palace review team’s report because he is attending to preparations for his First 100 Days report.

A whitewash?

Published by Ellen on September 26, 2010

Malaya editorial:

Palace officials said they are “alarmed” over the leak of the withheld portions of the reports of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee but their focus now is on completing a review and submitting their findings to President Aquino when he arrives from the United States tomorrow.

It’s the officials’ necks and Noynoy’s credibility which are on the block so they are free to do as they wish. They should be prepared, however, for some major efforts to contain the firestorm that will sure to erupt when the review assigned to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and chief presidential legal counsel Eduardo de Mesa is finished.

Ochoa and De Mesa have a limited choice: Affirm the findings and recommendations of the committee chaired by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima or trash them. Selective endorsement of the recommendations will not do because if the committee erred in some, then it conceivably was wrong in all its findings.

The issue boils down to what regulations or laws have been violated and whether there is sufficient evidence to nail down the offenders. If the Palace rules substantially against the recommendations of the panel, then it leaves no room for De Lima but to resign.

No more New York hotdogs for P-Noy

Published by Ellen on September 23, 2010

By Benjamin Pimentel
Inquirer.net

CALIFORNIA, United States—Maybe P-Noy should lay off the New York hotdogs. It’s making him talk strange.

Consider what he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer when asked about his friend, Undersecretary Rico Puno, who’s in hot water over alleged links to gambling and his role in the bungled Luneta rescue.

“One thing we have to watch out for is if these people who have been with us when we were still in the harassed opposition and who joined us in our struggles…if all these people who are close to us are removed and replaced by those who are not as close, the next group could already be our enemies,” he said.

Now, that was one jumbled, scary statement. You can read it on so many levels, few of them flattering to the chief executive of the country.

For the Philippine President basically admitted that, despite what appeared to be a pretty hefty mandate, he’s really relying on a very small circle of people to do his job.

Aquino scores in transparency

Published by Ellen on September 23, 2010

One good thing that can be said of the almost three-month old Aquino presidency is transparency.

Sometimes, too transparent to a fault but openness is still better than keeping people in the dark.

Aquino bungled big-time the Aug. 23 hostage crisis, wasted a lot of time trying to justify the bungling before finally doing something right: asking Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to head a panel that would investigate the fiasco.

Another correct decision was releasing the report to the public a few days after it was submitted to him. The release of the report to the Chinese Embassy ahead of releasing it to the Filipino public could have been handled better, of course. Also,he could have released the whole report including the recommendations.

Compare that to how Gloria Arroyo handled the “Hello Garci” scandal and the report of the Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga who investigated the involvement of the military in the tampering of the results of the 20004 election in Arroyo’s favor. Up to this day, we have yet to see the full report although I’m not expecting much from it.

Aquino orders review of IIRC recommendations

Published by Ellen on September 20, 2010

The IIRC report:

http://www.gov.ph/2010/09/17/first-report-of-the-iirc-on-the-rizal-park-hostage-taking-incident/ or

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37763943/20100917-IIRC-Report

President Aquino today said he has ordered the review of the recommendations of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) to sanction 12 persons and three networks over the Aug. 23 hostage tragedy.

Statement of the Foreign Ministry of China, Sept. 21, 2010

On 20 September 2010, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has been given by the Philippine IIRC the First Report of the IIRC on the 23 August 2010 Rizal Park Hostage-taking Incident: Sequence of Events, Evaluation and Recommendations. Since it is a long report, the Chinese side does need time for a careful study. The initial reading indicates that the Philippine side takes a sincere and serious manner in handling with and looking into the incident, to which the Chinese side expresses its appreciation.

We hope that the Philippine side continues to handle with the aftermath in an appropriate manner, so as to console the souls of the victims and render comfort to the bereft families and injured Hong Kong compatriots. We also hope that the Philippine side takes effective measures to strengthen protection of the Chinese personnel in the Philippines and prevent the reoccurrence of similar tragedies. The Chinese side stands ready to work with the Philippine side to advance the bilateral relations in a sound and steady manner.

In a press conference, Aquino named the following who were cited by the IIRC for negligence or failure to follow manual:

* Then Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Jesus Verzosa;
* Then Manila Police District chief Rodolfo Magtibay, who served as ground commander;
* National Capital Region Police office chief Leocadio Santiago;
* Hostage negotiator Manila Superintendent Orlando Yebra;
* DILG Undersecretary Rico Puno;
* Chief Inspector Santiago Pascual, head of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team;
* Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez;
* Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzalez III;
* TV5’s Erwin Tulfo;
* Radio Mo Nationwide’s (RMN) Michael Rogas;
* Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim
* Manila Vice-Mayor Isko Moreno
* 3 broadcast networks.

Aquino’s statement:

Puno, Versoza named as jueteng payola recipients

Published by Ellen on September 15, 2010

President Aquino, you have the names. The ball is in your court.

From ABS-CBN online

Ibinunyag ng isang opisyal ng simbahan at isang mataaas na opisyal ng gobyerno na sina DILG Undersecretary Rico Puno at kareretirong PNP chief na si Jesus Versoza ang umanoy dalawang mataas na opisyal ng tumatanggap ng payola sa jueteng.

Dalawang mapagkakatiwalaang source ng ABS-CBN — isang opisyal ng simbahan at isang mataas ng opisyal ng gobyerno — ang nagbunyag na sina Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Rico Puno at retired Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa ang umano’y mga opisyal na nadadawit sa jueteng payola.

Kuwento ng dalawa, P5 milyon umano ang ibinibigay sa dalawang opisyal kada buwan at P2 milyon lamang kung mahina ang kita.

Isang retired Colonel Cachuela ang tinuturong bagman umano o tagabigay ng pera.

Why a Joint AFP-PNP Elite Security Force would fail

Published by Ellen on September 10, 2010

by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV

Yesterday, at a press conference, Pres. Aquino announced his plan to create a security force similar to the British SAS composed of around 200 to 400 police and military personnel to be deployed during crisis situations. This was a policy response to the Aug. 23 Hostage Crisis that led to the death of 8 Hong Kong tourists. On its face, such creation seems responsive to the crisis capability issues of our security forces that were brought to light by the Aug. 23 incident. However, upon close scrutiny, there may be some underlying problems that may hinder its success in the future.

1. Unity of Command – The basic question is, who shall head this composite elite force: a PNP or AFP officer? Or would it be a set-up where both a PNP and AFP officer would be designated as “co-commanders” to accommodate the egos of these two institutions? In either case, we can see potential power struggles within such a composite unit. If there would be a single commander, cohesion would be a major problem because the reality on the ground is, AFP personnel don’t take it too well to be ordered around by a PNP officer and vice versa. There are vast differences in culture and training that cannot suddenly be expected to disappear just because they now belong to a common unit.

In the case of a “co-commandership” set-up similar to what PNoy did to the DILG and his Communications Group, professional rivalry would set in and the power struggle for authority, resources, training and even credit would even be more pronounced.

Transcript of President Aquino’s interview with three TV anchors

Published by Ellen on September 10, 2010

Gleaning from this interview, do you still believe heads will roll aside from probably Gen. Rodolfo Magtibay?

Click here for GMA-7’s video of the interview.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today marks one year since the President declared his candidacy. We have traveled far since then. This afternoon, for the first time, the President engages the three major networks on the August 23 tragedy, no holds barred. The order in which they will ask questions has been determined by the drawing of lots. There will be one question and one follow-up question for each panelist. Joining us are Ms. Mel Tiangco, anchor of GMA 7’s “24 ORAS”; Mr. Ted Failon, anchor of ABS-CBN’s “TV Patrol”, and Mr. Paolo Bediones, anchor of TV 5’s “Aksyon”. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the Philippines.

P-NOY: Mel, Ted, Paolo, good afternoon. I would like to thank TV 5, ABS-CBN and the GMA network, and all our friends in the media for agreeing to this one of a kind panel discussion. As you know, in the wake of the hostage crisis at the Quirino Grandstand, your government has launched an independent and transparent investigation into the events of August 23. I am confident that the results of the investigation will be fair, impartial and thorough. We have also begun efforts to improve the capability of our police forces to better handle situations like this should they arise again in the future. We are also examining our internal processes and crisis management protocols to see how they can be improved.

Noynoy flunks his first test

Published by Ellen on September 8, 2010

by Maria Ressa

Filipinos have high hopes for President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who took power two months ago with the largest margin of victory in two decades and an 85% approval rating. His popularity rested mostly on promises of good values and cleaner governance—promises his mother, democracy icon Cory Aquino, made too. Yet his first major test in office shows how early political compromises are exacerbating problems in the weak institutions he’s promised to reform.

On Aug. 23, a disgruntled former police officer took a tourist bus hostage and after a long stand-off, killed eight passengers, all Hong Kongers. The government’s response was an exercise in incompetence. In public hearings that began Friday, police and politicians admitted that untrained, ill-equipped forces were used while elite units were put on standby; that national leaders played no role in the crisis response despite foreigners’ involvement; and that ad hoc, unclear lines of communication between local politicians and local police complicated matters. To add insult to injury, the authorities in charge left the scene to eat in a nearby Chinese restaurant precisely when the killings began.

The incident sparked outrage in Hong Kong, where the government has called for an independent investigation and compensation for the victims’ families. But Mr. Aquino only belatedly realized the gravity of the situation. His first instinct was to blame the national media for covering the event live, a sentiment that citizens in the blogosphere and on Twitter quickly echoed. When the hearings did little to quell public anger on Friday—two weeks after the fiasco—he claimed responsibility “for everything that has transpired.”

Versoza’s DILG chief dream dashed?

Published by Ellen on September 7, 2010

Despite the Euro-generals scandal at the beginning of his term as chief of the Philippine National Police two years ago, Police Chief Jesus Versoza has been lucky and even re-invented himself from a Mike Arroyo man to Noynoy Aquino ally in the last May election.

Aquino confirms VERA Files story that he had differences with Robredo.

“There are various reasons kung bakit acting. In the case of Jesse, we had some differences during the campaign as to style. We want to make sure we can really work with each other well. It does no good to get him through the whole process of the CA only at the end of the day to find out that there might be difficulties in our working style, among others, our core philosophy, so we did agree na acting na muna,” Aquino said.

“May evaluation period, siguro check ang working style, after two months sigurado na tayo, we still have certain things discussed,” he added. “Dadalawang buwan pa lang kami nagkakasubukan kung talaga nga bang kaya naming mag-mesh.”

Click here: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/07/10/aquino-admits-differences-robredo

Talk in the power circles even said Versoza was slated to be the next secretary of interior and local government after Jesse Robredo has been eased out of the politically strategic department. That’s the reason why as early as last month he was sharing to media his thoughts about going to civilian life earlier than his December official retirement date.