MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III is not using the media as a scapegoat for the failures of police over the August 23 hostage-taking tragedy, a Palace official said Friday.

Presidential Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said Aquino only wants journalists to improve their media coverage protocols to avoid a repeat of the tragedy.

He added that the Palace will hold dialogues with media starting next week.

The meetings will be held in small groups to make the dialogues effective, he said.

A trade union of journalists in Hong Kong earlier accused Aquino of planning to curtail press freedom in the Philippines after the bloody hostage crisis in Manila.

In a letter to Aquino, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) said it is "filled with anger and concern" over Aquino's statement that essentially made the media the scapegoat in Monday's bloody hostage drama.

The group said Aquino is using the excuse of media coverage of the tragedy to consider imposing new restrictions on media coverage should a similar crisis occur.

"We have no idea what further restrictions are under consideration but what we are sure of is that President Benigno Aquino’s words were uttered hastily and without careful consideration. Without a thorough investigation such conclusions cannot be taken seriously and the HKJA views the president’s hasty conclusions with grave misgivings," the group said.

"The role of the media is to tell the world what is happening and what has happened. This is the essence of what the democratic world has come to know and to accept as freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The media’s presence is vital to the preservation of human rights of minorities in any conflict. As in the case of Manila’s killings, nobody can tell if the same tragedy would not have taken place without the presence of the media. What we can be sure of is that without the presence of the media no knowledge of this horrific tragedy would have been known to the outside world," it stressed.

Meanwhile, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) announced Friday that it has set a summit with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police (PNP) for a thorough review of the August 23 tragedy.

KBP president Herman Basbaño said the organization’s members will meet with DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo and PNP Director-General Jesus Versoza to to come up with new measures involving media coverage of incidents similar to the hostage-taking drama.

“(The) KBP is glad the secretary and chief PNP (have) accepted the invitation. (The summit) is scheduled next week,” Basbaño said.