A member of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Tuesday warned against any attempt at “whitewash” as he urged officials to hasten the investigation of the recent Manila hostage-taking drama that claimed the lives of eight Hong Kong tourists.
The Reverend Broderick Pabillo, the Manila auxiliary bishop, aired the warning in an ecumenical “unity” memorial service conducted at the Luneta Park in Manila exactly nine days after the bloodbath arising from a bungled rescue operation that also resulted in the killing of the hostage-taker, Rolando Mendoza, a dismissed Manila police captain.
In his homily, Pabillo stressed: “Bring out the truth. Let those who are responsible, whoever they may be, accountable. No whitewash. No scapegoats. Let there be new life for our justice system.”
Pabillo also railed against politicians, whom he did not name, for taking advantage of the tragedy in order to advance their own personal interests.
Ranking government officials attended the mass that was concelebrated by Pabillo, two other CBCP members and their counterpart from mainland China to pray for the victims and to end violence in the world.
In a show of unity, Buddhist monks joined their fellow religious leaders in offering prayers and flowers for the victims.
During the memorial service, Executive Secretary Paquio Ochoa Junior was seated beside Liu Jianchao, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, who has earlier expressed, in behalf of Beijing and Hong Kong, anger and disgust over the police fumbling and bumbling of the rescue operation that resulted in the carnage.
Also present were other Aquino administration Cabinet officials like Secretary Leila de Lima of the Department of Justice and Secretary Alberto Lim of the Department of Tourism as well as Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and leaders of the Filipino-Chinese community.
Students, like 17-year-old Toronueva of the “Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila” (PLM or Manila City University), run by Manila city hall, were likewise present, reportedly on orders of their school officials.
But Toronueva, a college freshman studying to be a teacher, pointed out that even if they were not ordered, they would have attended the memorial service just the same because “we want to show to foreigners that the Philippines is a safe place and that Filipinos are a peace-loving people.”
In a related development, Malacanang ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to stop issuing statements and instead let De Lima, the justice secretary, to do the talking on the progress of the hostage-taking investigation.
De Lima heads a five-member inter-agency panel formed by Malacanang to do an exhaustive and transparent inquiry into the bloodbath, with Secretary Jesse Robredo of the Department of Interior and Local Government as co-chairman and three representatives from the private sector.
Secretary Edwin Lacierda, the presidential spokesman, said Malacanang issued the “gag order” following of spate of statements, especially from the police, on what they claimed are significant findings on their investigation of the case.
Lacierda disclosed the order was De Lima’s idea which aims mainly to avoid confusion as the PNP forensic counterparts from Hong Kong have been allowed to conduct their own investigation especially on the bus 22 Hong Kong tourists were held hostage.
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