MANILA -- The Philippine government will provide the Chinese government a copy of the final report on the August 23 hostage-taking incident before it divulges the findings to the public, the presidential palace said on Friday night.
Secretary Ricky Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office made the statement after President Aquino met with the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) led by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, following the submission of the final report on the incident that killed eight Hong Kong nationals.
"We have to communicate this to Beijing first before we make it public," Carandang said, adding that the presidential palace only "wants to be careful" in handling the sensitive matter.
He said that the high-level Philippine delegation will still go to Beijing and Hong Kong to formally present the report to their leaders but this will have to be done after the President's working visit to the United States.
The President and his delegation to the United States will depart on Monday night and will return on September 28.
