Philippine President Benigno Aquino has said he may authorize filing charges against 13 people in last month’s bungled bus hostage case which has soured relations with Hong Kong. Government lawyers are studying a critical report into the 11-hour hostage standoff, and Aquino said 20 September that he will make his decision after a scheduled trip to the USA. In what is seen as the first major test of his two-month old presidency, Aquino said that charges may be filed against Undersecretary of the Interior, Rico Puno, a personal friend, and the mayor of Manila, Alfredo Lim. Another 11 people named in the report may be charged, including a recently retired police chief, Jesus Verzoso, and several journalists.
The hostage taking, in which a disgruntled former policeman took a bus full of tourists hostage and eight died, including the gunman, has strained relations with China and Hong Kong.
Both Puno and Versozo were also named 20 September in a Philippine Senate inquiry as recipients of illegal gambling payoffs, according to the Philippine Inquirer.
Links to other sites: AP, Bloomberg, Philippine Inquirer
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News story, GenevaLunch, 21 September 2010.
Filed under: News, World news
Tags: Alfredo Lim, Benigno Aquino, bus hostage crisis, Hong Kong, Jesus Versozo, Manila Philippines, Rico Puno