Cabaero: Blame and shame
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PRESIDENT Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III has owned responsibility for what happened during the August 23 bus hijacking in Manila where eight tourists from Hong Kong and the hostage-taker were killed.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, for his part, refused to admit any responsibility for the bungled rescue for the hostages, pointing instead to Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay who headed the police operation against hostage-taker, dismissed police officer Rolando Mendoza.
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Magtibay was relieved from his post as chief of the Manila Police District after the bloody end to the hijacking.
Meanwhile, Director General Jesus Verzosa, Philippine National Police chief, has asked President Aquino to allow him to retire on September 15 even if he will reach the mandatory retirement age in December. Verzosa said his decision to retire early has nothing to do with the hostage taking. He just wants to give younger officers the chance to take leadership positions.
If we take these developments in the context of government's earlier promise to let those responsible for the botched rescue face the consequences, the end is still unclear. Who will have to be removed from office for mishandling the crisis? Who will have to face administrative and criminal liability and suffer the consequences?
President Aquino himself vowed immediately after the incident that heads will roll. He was quoted as saying in a speech on August 26 that someone will be held accountable for the bloody hostage drama. "What happened last Monday (August 23) was tragic. There were really deficiencies. I guarantee you all flaws since that very night, that afternoon, have been attended to."
Heads will roll, he said, depending on the result of the investigation to be conducted by the Department of Justice and National Bureau of Investigation.
Then, last Thursday, Aquino said, "At the end of the day, I am responsible for everything that has transpired." He admitted responsibility after Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo was questioned over the mishandling of the incident.
There were many players - big and small - during the crisis that determining responsibility for the deaths of the eight tourists and the hostage-taker will be difficult and, perhaps, tricky. With many names cropping up in the investigation, the identity of the person in charge, the person at the helm, is still not categorical.
While others like Magtibay were forced to remove themselves from their positions, elected officials like Mayor Lim and Vice Mayor Isko Moreno cannot just be ordered out of their offices.
President Aquino's head, despite his owning of responsibility for the crisis, cannot be made to roll simply on the basis of chain of command or of his being the leader of the country.
The hope is that the ongoing investigation will result in determining fault. The shame, however, is shared.
