Hostage Fiasco "Culprits" to be Charged

The Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) findings on the bloody August 23 hostage-taking that caused the death of eight Chinese and a former cop hostage-taker is out.

IIRC recommended the filing of appropriate charged against the following:

1. Police Chief Jesus Versoza (Ret.)

2. Alfredo Lim – Manila Mayor

3. Isko Moreno – Manila Vice Mayor

4. Rico Puno – Interior Undersecretary

5. Merceditas Gutierrez – Ombudsman

6. Leocadio Santiago – Director, National Capital Region Police

7. Rodolfo Magtibay – Manila Police District Chief

8. Orlando Yebra, Jr. – Police Superintendent

9. Chief negotiator, the head of SWAT among others
10. Jake Maderazo - Radio Station Manager

Charges are also recommended against TV anchors Erwin Tulfo, Mike Rogas and “three of the networks” probably ABS-CBN, GMA-7 and TV-5.

Again, writing as a non-lawyer, what appropriate charges will be slapped against the individuals mentioned? How can the court prove beyond reasonable doubt that the high government and police personalities; journalists and TV stations are guilty?  Guilty of what?

On the other hand, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) says in protest “To equate these (journalists’ and media’s) lapses in judgment with criminal liability and haling journalists to court and threatening them with imprisonment, are making media the scapegoat for what essentially was government incompetence on all levels.”

They are not scapegoats. Their lapses contributed immensely in the failure of the hostage rescue attempt.   That cannot be discounted. From the very start the press's and journalists'  irresponsibility and recklessness in covering the drama  are partly to be blamed as factors of the bloodbath. Since members of the fourth estate admitted their lapses, they know better than us that they too are not indispensable in the current government. It is inappropriate to assume, if the charges prosper, that freedom of the press is at stake or that media practitioners are harassed when the government is simply doing its job. 

If charges in court prosper against the mentioned, do we believe that there will be a fair trial? I am not saying that the courts are not fair but how many big fishes were convicted and ordered to pay for their crimes?

Your answer is as good as mine. -30-