De Lima will meet with Hong Kong survivors of bus massacre

It will likely be Justice Secretary Leila de Lima—and not President Aquino—who will meet with survivors of last year’s tourist bus massacre at Rizal Park when they arrive from Hong Kong this weekend, Malacañang said on Thursday.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Philippine Consul General in Hong Kong Claro Cristobal had suggested that De Lima meet with the Hong Kong residents who had been asking for a meeting with Mr. Aquino.

“I’m not sure if that has been worked out… but that is my understanding,” said Lacierda, who made it clear the President would have nothing to do with a meeting with the Hong Kong tourists.

He said De Lima was being asked to meet with the Chinese families since she headed the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) that investigated the hostage-taking that resulted in the killing on Aug. 23, 2010, of eight Hong Kong tourists and their Filipino hostage-taker, a disgruntled former police officer.

Hong Kong politics

Lacierda said this was because the tourists and the victims’ relatives were said to be accompanied by a Hong Kong opposition politician who is running in elections in the Chinese special region. The Aquino administration, Malacañang said, “did not want to be drawn into Hong Kong politics.”

At a Palace briefing on Thursday, Lacierda said De Lima could tell the Hong Kong tourists and their families what the Aquino administration has done and “continues to do” not only to make tourists safe but also how it responded to the recommendations of the IIRC.

Lacierda also gave reporters an update on the investigation of the hostage-taking incident by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

He said the DILG had yet to wrap up its investigation that was begun last February into the role in the incident played by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who was charged with simple neglect and misconduct.

There have been three hearings with Lim submitting his response to the charges only on Aug. 5.

In the case of PNP Director Leocadio Santiago, Lacierda said he was deemed liable for simple neglect of duty by the Philippine National Police Internal Service and he has since served an 11-day suspension.