The government will stand pat on the results of its review of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) report on the Rizal Park hostage tragedy on Aug. 23.
In a press briefing at Malacanang Thursday, President Benigno S. Aquino III said the government will not amend its previous recommendations on the IIRC report, saying it primarily serves the interest of the Filipino people.
He expressed hope that eventually, the country would win back its close ties with China and put the hostage-taking incident behind.
“The only thing we can do is to explain exactly how the decision was arrived at, what were the limitations we have under our system of government and also our laws,” explained the Chief Executive.
President Aquino said the decision was based on existing laws.
“We had a review of pertinent laws, we tried to find whether said laws were applicable to the people accused of failing to do their duties. This is the collected wisdom of everybody who participated in the review,” explained the Chief Executive. “We believe this is the proper course of action and these will be the ones that will prosper.”
The President was reacting to reports that the Chinese government was not satisfied with the results of the review of the IIRC report. (PCOO/PIA)
