The Senate late Wednesday night censured Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez in connection with the Jan. 17 siege of the Iloilo Provincial Capitol by heavily-armed police commandos supposedly to implement an order of the Ombudsman dismissing Iloilo Governor Niel Tupas Sr. and two provincial board members on graft charges, a Senate press release said yesterday.

The Senate report also recommended that Chief Superintendent Wilfredo Dulay Sr., police regional director for Western Visayas who ordered the assault, be reassigned and a reshuffle of police officers in the region be effected immediately, Drilon revealed. The report further said: "Some of the members of the Regional Mobile Group acted beyond what they should have done in a crowd control situation. These acts were downright unwarranted and uncalled for. These deserve condemnation from the Joint Committees," the report said.

During its session late Wednesday night, the Senate adopted the report prepared by the Committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs and the Committee on Local Government stating that Puno and Department of the Interior and Local Governments Undersecretary Wencelito Andanar should be censured for "prematurely enforcing" the order of the Ombudsman dismissing Tupas and Provincial Board Members Domingo Oso Jr., and Cecilia Capadosa.

The Senate Committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs is chaired by Liberal Party President Sen. Franklin Drilon, an ally of Tupas, while the Committee on Local Government is chaired by Sen. Alfredo Lim.

Puno and Andanar were aware of existing laws and Supreme Court jurisprudence that allow the three Iloilo officials to file an appeal, the report said.

The report also censured Gonzalez "for his unwarranted interference" in the investigation of the graft case against Tupas, his political rival in Iloilo Province.

"It is evident that the PNP clearly did not adhere to its own Operational Procedures and Rules of Engagement as there was excessive use of force and violent enforcement of the dismissal orders for Governor Tupas as graphically captured on video and TV," the Senate also report said.

"No doubt, there was an unwarranted use of the Regional Mobile Group for Crowd Control whose members committed highly offensive acts against civilians during their assault of the provincial capitol."

Drilon said the Senate report recommended that the Commission on Human Rights continue with its investigation to "identify and prosecute those responsible for the violent assault of the Iloilo Provincial Capitol."

Drilon said the committees on public order and local government also asked that the Ombudsman review its "rules on administrative cases especially those concerning elective officials and also be updated on relevant cases decided by the Supreme Court that decisions, orders of Ombudsman, are not immediately executory pending appeal."*

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