The Philippine government yesterday released a harshly worded report that laid bare the chain of mistakes by the government, police and media during the August 23 hostage-taking.
President Benigno Aquino said the report by the Incident Investigation and Review Committee recommended that 12 individuals and three broadcast networks be held liable for the botched rescue that left eight Hongkongers dead.
'This report is part of the justice to be given to the victims ... This is a manifestation of the concrete actions we have taken to render justice to all the victims of this tragedy,' Aquino said. A copy was delivered to Beijing earlier in the day.
The Philippine government released only 61 pages of the 84-page report, omitting the 'conclusions on accountability', recommendations, highlights and epilogue. Aquino said those would be released after he had decided how to act on the report.
While many questions remain, the report concluded that the seven tourists and their guide were killed aboard a hijacked bus in Manila by hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza, 'based on case materials reviewed so far', the report stated.
Hong Kong officials were not convinced. A statement from the office of Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said: 'The report admits that the causes of death of the eight victims and the causes of injury of the seven others need to be further ascertained. Therefore, final conclusions have yet to be drawn. We expect the Philippine authorities to step up their efforts to complete the work as soon as possible.
