RP hostage probers arrive in Hong Kong

HONG KONG – A team of Filipino investigators arrived here yesterday to coordinate with the Hong Kong police force as part of the ongoing probe on the hostage crisis that resulted in the death of eight Hong Kong tourists and the hostage taker in Manila last Aug. 23.

Senior State Prosecutor Cielito Celi, Senior Superintendent Lorlie Arroyo, and Superintendent Reynaldo de Guzman arrived at 10 a.m. here on board a Cebu Pacific flight.

Representatives of the Hong Kong police and a staff from the Philippine consulate welcomed the Filipino probers.

“Ko-coordinate lang and cooperate with the ongoing investigation. Any official statement will come from Manila,” Celi said in an ambush interview at the airport.

She refused to give details on their investigation, including their reported plan to talk to the hostage survivors.

The investigation team went straight to the Organized Crime and Trial Bureau in Wan Chai. They left the police headquarters at around 2 p.m. with Philippine Vice Consul Val Roque.

Consul General Claro Cristobal confirmed that the team arrived here to continue the investigation on the hostage crisis. “They’re here to probe.”

The Hong Kong police have earlier said they will return the three mobile phones that the Manila authorities have mistakenly handed over to them.

The mix-up was revealed last Saturday when the Philippine investigating team discovered that one of the two phones that the hostage taker used while negotiating with police officials was missing.