MANILA, Philippines - Amid criticisms of the Philippine National Police's (PNP) handling of the hostage crisis, a senior police official defended the moves taken by the policemen who dealt with the incident, saying it was too early to make conclusions.

Speaking on ANC's "The Rundown" on Tuesday night, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leocadio Santiago said they did everything by the book, including not shooting the hostage-taker, dismissed police officer Rolando Mendoza, when there was an opportunity to do so early Monday morning after an elderly hostage was released from the hijacked bus.

He said it is unlawful to shoot the hostage-taker if his captives are not being harmed. He pointed out the rule is to exhaust all means before using deadly force.

"It is unlawful for us to shoot the person when he is doing no harm to his hostages. The rule is to exhaust all means," Santiago insisted. "Until the situation calls for an offensive, the tactical force would only be to encourage him to surrender to authorities. As long as there is no mortal harm, we can't consider him a target for neutralization."

Santiago, a former commander of the PNP Special Action Force, also appealed to the public to reserve judgement until the investigations are concluded.

"On lapses, I would say it's an early conclusion," Santiago said.

"In the initial stages of operations, the bus was properly isolated. The succeeding event, however, when things started to deteriorate, especially after the tactical assault, that's the time we saw there was a breakdown in the isolation," he said.

Many observers have pointed out how the police seemed ill-equipped and even unfamiliar with the operation.

"Unfortunately, the police were not familiar with the bus. It was through text messages that we were informed (of a secret door) and we directed our troops towards that," he said.

News blackout?

Santiago noted that early on, the crisis team could have kept the media at bay and called for a news blackout.

"The request should've been a time lapse on the press releases," he said.

But Santiago said initially, it may have also been in the country's best interest to show the conduct of police operations and positive developments with the release of hostages.

"Since foreign nationals were involved and events were leading to a peaceful resolution, it would've been an advantage to show the world we were following the ABCs of the hostage situation."

Gov't-issued weapons

Santiago noted that normal police procedure involves a review of the accountability of a dismissed police official, and having him surrender government-issued weapons or risk facing court.

"The normal procedure is, once you're dismissed, the accountable officer reviews the accountabilities and a demand is made for him to surrender government-owned equipment. If this is not returned, a criminal case is filed in court."

Santiago believes the outcome would have been different had Mendoza's brother Gregorio not overreacted to efforts to isolate him from the incident. Instead, footage of efforts to subdue and restrain Gregorio enraged Mendoza, reportedly sending him into a shooting frenzy.

Rush probe

Santiago said the police was rushing its probe, starting on Wednesday, to get to the bottom of the tragic incident amid criticism it bungled its operations.

Santiago said a 2-part investigation aims to review the PNP's entire organizational structure and how tactical units respond to hostage-taking incidents. It seeks to identify accountability in Monday's police operation.

"There is still much room for improvement and there are things we should consider in light of this incident. Is it right to have these tactical units and at what level? Externally how could other agencies assist these operations," Santiago said, noting the health department could have immediately sent ambulances to the scene.

Santiago noted it is standard police practice in other countries to use blinders or a smoke cloth to cover a police operation from public view.

Saying it's worth the investment, he noted they had conducted a review before the hostage-taking, and during a briefing with President Benigno Aquino III, the chief executive had expressed openness to building up the capability of the PNP and the country's armed forces.