SANGLEY POINT ? (UPDATE) President Benigno Aquino III warned Friday against premature pronouncements that friendly fire killed some of the Hong Kong tourists in the recent hostage crisis in Manila.

Mr. Aquino made the remarks a day after Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said the committee was looking into the possibility that gunfire from the police could have killed some of the hostages taken by sacked senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza who hijacked a tourist bus on August 23.

De Lima?s remarks were carried by local and foreign media.

The President said De Lima used the modal verb ?might? in stating the possibility of friendly fire killing some hostages during the crisis. He said this indicated that it wasn?t a definite conclusion on the part of the chairperson of the investigating panel.

?There are still questions. The way I understood it, what she was saying was we have to identify the fragments to determine from which rifle they came from. I?m not sure if you can identify a firearm from fragments,? Mr. Aquino told reporters.

?But at the end of the day, the emphasis has to be on the use of the word ?might.? Let us not jump to conclusions. They premised the report by Wednesday. Let?s wait for the Wednesday report,? he added.

A reporter asked Justice Secretary Leila De Lima about the possibility of police gunfire hitting the victims.

?There is always a possibility given the discrepancies now,? De Lima answered.

Foreign news organizations CNN and BBC quoted De Lima as saying there was a ?big possibility? of ?friendly fire? hitting the hostages.

?Let us first determine (the results of the investigation) before we comment on something,? Mr. Aquino said.