MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE 3) No one but Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing government investigation into the August 23 hostage drama at the Quirino Grandstand.

De Lima has issued a ?gag order? on the investigation, according to President Benigno Aquino's spokesman Edwin Lacierda, who attended Monday the first meeting of the government committee tasked to investigate the hostage drama.

?Only the Justice Secretary will be issuing the briefings and all the details of all the investigation process so as not to cause confusion to the public,?' Lacierda told reporters in Malacañang.

Told to zip their lips were officials taking part in the probe, including those from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), among others.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said the police are prepared to heed Malacanang?s directive.

Cruz said the PNP will no longer be issuing statements on its investigation and told the media that all information will be coming from the Joint Incident Investigation and Review Committee (JIIRC) headed by De Lima.

?The secretary of justice will be the sole person who will give or issue statements and updates on the hostage incident, while the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and the PNP will provide investigative support to the committee,? Cruz said in a briefing with reporters in Camp Crame.
He said the NBI and the PNP will be providing support in investigation of the JIIRC.

"They gave a very strict directive that anything about the hostage-taking incident will come from them," Cruz said.

?Mas maganda na yung isa na lang ang magsasalita on the whole incident (It would be better if just one person would talk on the whole incident),? Cruz revealed. He later revealed that President Benigno Aquino III had made it know he wanted just one person talking on the probe.

He also refused to elaborate on any other issues on the probe, saying ?the directive is very strict, anything about the hostage incident will come from them (DOJ).?

All the findings from the investigations conducted by the Post Critical Incident Management Committee (PCIMC) will be given to the JIIRC.

The PCIMC was formed on August 25 to conduct investigations on the hostage-taking that resulted in eight dead Hong Kong nationals.

Lacierda said that, during the meeting participated in by Chinese officials headed by the assistant commissioner of Hong Kong, it was understood that Philippine authorities had ?primary jurisdiction? over the investigation and that Chinese officials would coordinate all their moves with them.

The committee has also allowed Chinese authorities to examine the bus where Hong Kong tourists were held hostage by dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza as well as the firearms used there, Lacierda said.

?We had a fruitful discussion...and we hope to see a harmonious relationship with the Chinese authorities here,? he said.

The probe might be completed ahead of the deadline earlier set by De Lima of three weeks, Lacierda added.

Citing De Lima, he said the investigation has two stages: fact finding and institutional recommendation.

The government has launched an investigation of the tragedy in which eight Chinese tourists from Hong Kong were killed after Mendoza went berserk upon seeing his brother?s arrest on the TV monitor inside the bus.With a report from Karen Boncocan, Inquirer.net