Manila, Philippines- Malacañang said on Monday that any government official found accountable for the mishandling of the crisis will still lose his job although President Aquino has already accepted full responsibility for the Manila hostage fiasco.

This developed as two teams from the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) composed of prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DoJ) and officials from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) left on Monday for Hong Kong to interview survivors as well as to possibly retrieve pieces of evidence which were inadvertently turned over to HK authorities.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the President is waiting for the results of the official investigation into the August 23 tragic hostage drama before taking the appropriate actions against erring officials.

Lacierda made the remarks amid mounting calls for President Aquino to fire certain public officials who bungled the rescue in the bus hijacking in Manila that has been criticized here and abroad.

“He (President Aquino) promised that heads will roll. That's the statement that he made,” Lacierda said in a news conference in the Palace when asked if the Chief Executive will spare no one if some government officials should be held accountable for the tragedy.

“We are letting the investigation committee take its course. It has been a very credible investigation process and we will wait for the report and the conclusions and recommendations of the investigation committee,” he added.

Lacierda said they expect the investigation being carried out by the IIRC would be “fair and thorough.” The official probe into the violent hostage crisis is expected to wrap up this week after holding marathon hearings.

So far, Lacierda admitted that no public official has offered to resign despite criticisms over the way the government dealt with the hostage crisis that ended with the death of eight Hong Kong tourists.

Some officials, however, have expressed readiness to leave the government if the President has lost confidence in them. Among them are: Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary, and Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno.

Last week, the President took responsibility for the way the government mishandled the hostage crisis, saying he has supervision over the police force at that time. “At the end of the day, I am responsible for everything that has transpired,” he said.

De Lima said the two IIRC teams directed to fly to Hong Kong were tasked to interview the hostage survivors and try to recover three mobile phones mistakenly turned over to HK authorities.

The justice secretary said the panel was told that eight cellular phones found inside the tourist bus involved in the hostage drama were turned over to Hong Kong authorities.

“Of the eight, five belonged to victims while the three are supposed to be returned by Hong Kong authorities to the Philippine government,” said De Lima during the press briefing.

She also said that the fact-finding inquiry may be extended until Wednesday.

The panel is composed of De Lima, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo as vice chair and members – Teresita Ang See, representing the Filipino-Chinese community; Herman Basbano, national president of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP); and lawyer Roan Libarios, representing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

Hostage manual
At the resumption of the clarificatory investigation on Monday, chief hostage negotiator Superintendent Orlando Yebra admitted to the IIRC that the August 23 hostage-taking negotiation was a failure, even revealing that they have no hostage-taking situation manual to guide hostage negotiators in dealing with this kind of serious scenario.

But Lacierda, in a press brieifing in Malacañang, insisted that the police has a manual on dealing with hostage situations.

He said they are now reviewing and updating the manual after lessons learned in the recent crisis.

Yebra also said the PNP has no official negotiating team to deal with hostage-taking situations.

He said that he had already suggested to the PNP to come out with an official hostage-taking situation manual for hostage-taking negotiators but the law enforcement agency has yet to act on the proposal.

He also recommended to PNP hierarchy to create a team to handle such hostage-taking incidents.

With the absence of the PNP manual for hostage situations, Yebra said they have to resort to instincts and to use the steps provided in the crisis management manual.

“There is revised standard operating procedure for hostage scenario but it has yet to take effect this time. What I know, the CMC used the old one (crisis management committee manual),” he said.

He said they have to rely on instincts and past experiences in dealing with such incident. “There is need for an official manual to guide negotiators steps by steps in dealing with such intense scenario,” he told the committee.

Since there is no official team to resolve hostage-taking, Yebra said he agreed to become a negotiator on that day because “he has an oath to fulfill which is to help the people and maintain peace and order.”

Yebra also told the committee that the CMC was also unprepared and ill-equipped to handle high-profile hostage-taking incidents like the August 23 hostage-taking.

The CMC, according to Yebra, appeared to have no “concrete structures" in addressing hostage-takings.

Ombudsman upholds Mendoza’s dismissal
In a related development, the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) upheld on Monday its dismissal order against hostage-taker, dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, and four other Manila policemen for grave misconduct.

In denying the joint motion for reconsideration filed by the respondents, Ombudsman Merceditas `decision.

“The issue and arguments of the respondents were previously raised, duly weighted and judiciously considered by this office before it issued the assailed decision,” Ms. Gutierrez said in a 13-page order.

Meanwhile, Deputy Ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO) Emilio Gonzalez III denied reports he demanded P150,000 from Mendoza to reverse the dismissal order.

“I swear before the graves of my father, brother, and sister that I did not ask money from the Mendoza for the dismissal of the case.” a visibly emotion Gonzalez said.

He said, however, that Mendoza asked him about the alleged extortion during their cellphone talks but did not mention it again “when I vehemently denied it for we had never met or talked prior to the Luneta incident.”

Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Mark Jalandoni said it would be illogical for Mendoza not to mention the alleged extortion during more than 10-hour hostage negotiations, adding that “what Mendoza was complaining about was the alleged injustice in his dismissal and reinstatement in the service.”

In affirming the decision dismissing from the service the five policemen, Gutierrez stressed that the complainant Christian Kalaw was arrested illegally for he could not be charged with driving without license because he was merely seating inside his parked car.

She said the illegal parking charges were baseless as the enforcement of traffic rules and regulations are the responsibility of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA). She described the arrest and long detention of Kalaw from evening to the following morning for a mere traffic violation as “unreasonable".

Kalaw charged Mendoza, together with Inspector Nelson Lagasca, SPO1 Nestor David, P03 Wilson Gavino, and PO2 Roderick Lopena with robbery-extortion, grave miscodnuct and physical injuries.

The criminal charges were, however, dropped by the Manila Prosecutor's Office for the failure of the complainant to show up during the deliberations out of fear for his life. (With a report from Jun Ramirez)