Hijack inquiry begins in Manila

MANILA, Philippines (Reuters) – Police stage hostage drills in Manila just weeks after a botched rescue attempt.

On August 23rd, a sacked police captain took a bus of 22 Hong Kong tourists hostage.

When it was all over 8 were dead.

President Begingo Aquino III's administration has been sharply criticized for the death of the tourists.

Critics say Manila police were neither capable nor prepared of handling the situation.

An investigation by the country's justice secretary is underway to reveal what happened.

The man in charge of the operation, Interior government undersecretary Rico Puno, faced tough questioning about his role that night.

Lawyer Roan Libarios asked Puno, "So at no point in time, from 10 o'clock in the morning up to 7 o' clock in the evening, did it ever occur to you to consider the crisis situation as already within the dimension of a national crisis incident?"

Puno answered, "No, sir."

Investigators also questioned Puno on why police didn't kill the hostage taker, even though they had several opportunities.

Justice secretary Leila De Lima questioned Philippine National Police (PNP) chief director general Jesus Versoza, "At what point is target elimination considered an option? We didn't see that in August 23, until the hostage-taker killed the hostages."

Versoza replied, "When there is imminent threat your honor."

Puno was also criticized for failure to control the crowd and handling media coverage -- which beamed live images of the assault.