MPD official sacked for hostage meddling

MPD official sacked for hostage meddling
By AARON B. RECUENCO
August 27, 2010, 6:47pm
It was a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
On Friday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) ordered the relief of Superintendent Nelson Yabut as Manila Police District (MPD) District Mobile Group commander, for meddling in the assault operations during Monday's bloody hostage drama in front Quirino Grandstand without proper clearance from higher police authorities.
Director Leocadio Santiago, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), confirmed Yabut’s relief.

“Yes he (Yabut) is relieved from his post,” Santiago told the Manila Bulletin in a phone interview.
“You saw him on television during the (hostage-taking) incident, right? Well, he was not supposed to be there,” he replied when asked the grounds for sacking Yabut.
Santiago was referring to television footages wherein Yabut was seen with members of the assault team of the MPD’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team during the rescue operation.

Yabut was not in proper assault uniform and was even wearing a bull cap, which some critics said is a gross violation of the standard operating procedure in conducting assault operations.

He was also seen granting some media interviews and talking with the negotiators.
Although Yabut and his men were tapped to secure the hostage-taking site on Monday, Santiago said the official has no authority to join the assault team.
“He has no clearance, he is not even part of the Crisis Management Committee, said Santiago, referring to the top level committee, headed by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, formed to end the hostage drama peacefully.

Santiago, however, would not say if charges will be filed against Yabut but stressed that all the personnel who responded in the hostage-taking will be investigated.
No official, however, was named as Yabut’s replacement so far.

Earlier, Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay was sacked from his post after assuming responsibility for the botched rescue operations. Four other team leaders of the MPD-SWAT – Chief Inspector Santiago Pascual, Senior Police Officer 4 Reynaldo Antonio, Senior Police Officer 3 Alfonso Gameng and Senior Police Officer 2 Bernardo Espinosa – were also relieved.

The service firearms of all 200 policemen who responded to the incident were also ordered to be turned over for ballistic examinations in order to determine if friendly fires hit any of the eight killed foreign hostages.

The relief of Yabut came barely a day after Senior Superintendent Francisco Villaroman was also replaced as the director of the MPD following the sacking of Magtibay.
Director General Jesus Verzosa, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said the sudden pullout of Villaroman’s appointment paper as MPD acting director was based on the suggestions following previous charges involving the latter.

Earlier, former police asset and now state witness Mary “Rosebud” Ong protested Villaroman’s appointment since the official, she said, was involved in a kidnapping of a Hongkong national.

Teresita Ang See, president of the Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order, also did the same, citing Villaroman’s alleged involvement in drugs cases before.
“He was put there (MPD) as an officer-in-charge only and then when some suggestions came because he is allegedly involved in some previous cases, we decided to nullify it in order not to make the matter worse,” said Verzosa in an interview.
Villaroman was sacked on Thursday night and Verzosa said he named Chief Superintendent Roberto Rongavilla as the acting MPD director.

Rongavilla, who was the former deputy director for administration of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), is the head of the Task Force Asuncion who handled the controversial torture case involving Senior Inspector Joselito Binayug, former head of the MPD Asuncion Police Community Precinct in Station 2.
For his part, Villaroman, in a text message reacting to protest for his appointment, said: “Let the justice takes it course, it has been there for eight years and the allegation made has not been proven yet so we are presumed innocent as the Constitution dictates. Our demurer was not denied but was postponed for sometime.”

Senate invites Lim

As investigation on the bloody hostage drama continues, the Senate said it will invite Manila City Mayor Alfredo S. Lim to shed light on the arrest of the brother of hostage-taker dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza in its next hearing.
Lim’s alleged order to arrest Mendoza’s brother, SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza, was perceived to be the critical point in the 12-hour bus siege last Monday in front of the Quirino Grandstand that triggered a change in the hostage-taker’s temperament.
Magtibay, who has been relieved as MPD director, testified before the Senate that it was Lim who ordered SPO2 Mendoza’s arrest.

On Friday, Lim said, “No, I don't regret ordering (police) to handcuff Mendoza.”
Lim admitted giving orders to Magtibay to handcuff SPO2 Mendoza to restrain him from joining and helping his brother in the 12-hour standoff.
Aside from Lim, Sen. Gregorio Honasan, head of the Senate Committee on Public Order, said the Senate is also inclined to invite Supt. Orlando Yebra, who acted as chief negotiator during the crisis.

Burial rites
As this developed, hostage-taker Mendoza will be buried today at the Himlayan Cemetery in Tanauan City, Batangas.
Inspector Bismark Mendoza, the slain hostage-taker’s son assigned with the Abra Police Provincial Office (PPO), said that a mass will be held at the St. John De Baptist Church at 2 p.m. today before the burial rites for his father.
There will be no special services for my father but there will be having a reading of testimonial during the mass and some other programs, he said.
Bismark expressed gratitude to whoever ordered that his father’s coffin be draped with the Philippine flag. The elder Mendoza is a bemedalled officer before he was dismissed from service.

Flights cancelled
Tourism continues to suffer the brunt of the hostage backlash.
Effective on Friday, all flights of an airline from Hong Kong to Laoag City International Airport were suspended.

Ronald Estabillo, manager of the Laoag City International Airport, said that he received an advisory from the ground handler of the Hong Kong Express airline for the suspension of all scheduled flights from Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Express’s advisory did not stated the reason of the flight cancellation.
He said that the Hong Kong Express, which had regular twice a week flight schedules, did say when flights resume.

Meanwhile, the Ilocos Norte’s Tourism Office was alarmed over the possible decline of tourist arrival in Laoag City following the suspension of all flights of Hong Kong Express from Hongkong to Laoag airport.

Ilocos Norte’s Tourism Officer Maria Milagros Gonzales confirmed that all booking schedules of Chinese and Hongkong tourists in the Fort Ilocandia and Casino were already cancelled.
In a related development, the Hong Thai tourist bus used in the hostage-taking drama last Monday was inspected by yesterday by Versoza to ensure all pieces of evidence are preserved.

The bus was earlier taken to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig and now parked at the Logistics Support Service compound. (With reports from Hannah L. Torregoza, Leonard D. Postrado, Ferdinand F. Castro, Jean Fernando, and Freddie G. Lazaro)

thanks for sharing my dark.

I hate the hostage crisis in our country. We loss some integrity and the police force is so shameful. They could just give the demands of the hostage taker then its a win-win solution. Now, SWAT is define as Sorry Wala Akong Training . Nakakahiya talaga!

world headline filipinos bad image na naman,so matatakot na rin yong ibang mga tourist na going sa bansa natin coz of that hostage drama,nkakahiya lahat madadamay,

As per the news Yesterday, we have Elite Forces from the Philippine Navy experts on assault, sayang sana sila na lang ginamit. Turuan pa kasi kung kaninong jurisdiction eh. Need to revise na ang military tactics ng country natin.