Police finds three lapses in MPD response to March 28 hostage drama

By Ronron
April 3, 2007

An internal investigation by the Philippine National Police (PNP) has initially found three lapses in the handling by the Manila Police District (MPD) of the March 28 hostage-taking incident in Manila City.

In the weekly press briefing at Camp Crame, PNP Deputy Chief for Administration Deputy Director General Avelino Razon, Jr. said the National Capital Region – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (NCR-CIDG) initially found the following lapses: 1) Failure to control the crowd; 2) Improper Media Handling; and, 3) Breakdown of Communication among members of the Crisis Management Committee.

Razon said the investigation, which is still ongoing, is spearheaded by NCR-CIDG Director Supt. Joel Napoleon Coronel, and conducted jointly by the Directorate for Investigative and Detective Management (DIDM).

“The investigation is not yet finished. But the initial findings of the investigator… is that indeed, there were lapses,” Razon said.

He said the failure of the police officers at the hostage site to control the movement of the public and the media covering the event was vividly captured in the media.

As to the communication breakdown, wherein the orders of the crisis management committee down to the ground commander and subordinate units were not properly relayed, Razon said it will be elaborated to the media when the investigation wraps up.

A day after the 10-hour long incident, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno recommended the administrative relief of MPD acting Director Sr. Supt. Danilo Abarsoza and his subordinates for allegedly not following the orders of Manila City Mayor Lito Atienza, the crisis manager.

But PNP chief Director General Oscar Calderon withheld the relief until the internal probe is completed.

A separate interview with the chief negotiator of the incident, Supt. Orlando Yebra, revealed that they were all actually taking orders from Atienza. Yebra said Puno must have not been briefed well about what really happened.

Asked if the investigation body was already enlightened on whether or not Atienza acted as crisis manager, Razon said: “Well, the investigation of the PNP is limited to the police operational procedures. So the implementation of that by the police is the main point of this probe, and not the entire Crisis Management Committee.”

Razon said they expect to finish the investigation before Good Friday.



“We are looking closely at what really happened, what were the participation of these officers, their decisions, and the actions of the key players… And from there, we will find out what actions to be taken against these personnel,” Razon said.

Initially, the investigators came up with three recommendations: 1) filing of administrative charges against police officers who violated the Police Operational Procedures for Hostage Negotiations; 2) submission of the entire National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), starting with the MPD, to a Hostage-Taking Crisis Management Seminar; and, 3) a review by the Directorate for Operations of the current Police Operational Procedures on Hostage Negotiations for further improvement.

But even without these recommendations, Razon said Calderon already ordered all regional offices, especially city police offices, to conduct Hostage Negotiation Seminars or Trainings to avoid the above-mentioned lapses should a situation happen there.

“Even with the media, the chief PNP said that if possible, we could sit down with our media friends and discuss with them how could they best help in situations like that,” Razon said.

Armando Ducat, Jr., together with his associate, Cezar Carbonell, held hostage 26 pupils and three teachers inside a bus last March 28 from 9am to 7pm as he complained against corruption in the government.

Parking the bus near the Manila City Hall, Ducat asked the government to assure that the graduates of the Musmos Day Care Center in Parola Compound, Binondo, Manila City go through college and their families get housing units.

Ducat and Carbonell were armed at that time with a sub-machine gun, a caliber 45 pistol, and two hand grenades.

The incident ended peacefully after the two suspects released their victims, and then voluntarily surrendered./DMS