MANILA — Insisting that nothing is irregular with the act, Malacañang on Saturday brushed aside questions surrounding Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo’s blocking of a reshuffle in the Philippine National Police (PNP). Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Robredo was acting within his right as chairman of the National Police Commission (Napolcom), which supervises the police. [...]

MANILA — President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on Friday called for a special Cabinet meeting to discuss how the government could further improve its protocol in handling a hostage crisis situation. The move came four days after the bloody bus hijacking incident in Quirino Grandstand that killed eight tourists, mostly Hong Kong nationals, and hostage-taker [...]

MANILA — House Minority leader Edcel Lagman said Local Goverment Secretary Jesse Robredo, and chief communicators Ricky Carandang and Herminio Coloma should step down from their posts after the 12-hour hostage crisis that killed eight Hong Kong nationals. Lagman said that Robredo should take responsibility for what happened because he exercised jurisdiction over the Philippine [...]

MANILA — It was not the intention of Cabinet members to snub the hearings in Congress, a Palace official said Friday. Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ricky Carandang clarifies that the incident arose due to miscoordination of schedules of the affected government officials. Read rest of story