By Mynardo Macaraig (AFP) – 11 hours
ago
MANILA — A dramatic hostage siege in the Philippine capital
involving a busload of Hong Kong tourists ended after 12 hours on
Monday with several captives walking free but the fate of 11 others
unknown.
The gunman, a disgruntled ex-policeman, was killed in the final
moments of the crisis in the heart of Manila, which was played out
live on television screens around the globe.
Four of the tourists emerged from the bus alive, surrounded by
police and emergency vehicles, but there were fears for the lives
of the 11 others who did not get off the vehicle immediately
afterwards.
Some of the hostages were seen being pulled out of the bus
motionless, but it was unclear whether they were unconscious or
dead.
The body of the gunman, a highly decorated former police
inspector who hijacked the bus in a desperate bid to get his job
back, was seen slumped out of the main door of the vehicle.
Multiple gunshots were heard moments before heavily-armed police
moved in on the bus near a park in Manila's historic tourist
district just after nightfall.
The gunman, former senior police inspector Rolando Mendoza, said
just ahead of the police assault that he had shot two of his
captives and would kill the others if police did not move back.
"I shot two Chinese. I will finish them all if they do not
stop," he told the Radio Mindanao Network about 10 hours in to the
hostage drama.
"I can see a lot of SWAT (special weapons and tactics police)
coming in. I know they will kill me. They should all leave because
anytime I will do the same here."
Police were unable to get inside the bus for more than an hour
after negotiations broke down and they decided to storm it.
They encircled the bus, smashed its windows and fired at it, but
Mendoza held them off by shooting back.
The crisis eventually ended when police threw tear gas inside
the bus, and fired again.
The hostage drama began when Mendoza boarded the bus in Manila's
tourist district on Monday morning. He wanted to clear his name
after being discharged for extortion in 2008, and called on
authorities to review his case.
Philippine authorities said 22 tourists from Hong Kong were
originally on the bus, including children, as well as the local
driver and two other Filipinos.
Seven of the tourists, including three children and an elderly
man, as well two Filipinos, were released at various times
throughout the day.
The Filipino driver jumped out of a window and escaped just
before police stormed the bus.
Mendoza, 55, was honoured by police chiefs in 1986 as one of the
top 10 officers in the country. But he was discharged in 2008 for
his alleged involvement in drug-related crimes and extortion,
according to police.
"He wants to be reinstated in the service," Manila district
police chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay said early in the
day.
Mendoza had posted a series of written messages on the windows
of the bus, one of which read: "Big mistake for big wrong
decision", apparently in reference to his sacking.
Joseph Tung, executive director of the Travel Industry Council
of Hong Kong, said the tourists on the bus were aged between four
and 72.
They were on a three-day tour with Hong Thai Travel and were
scheduled to return to Hong Kong late Monday.
The bus was parked in front of a grandstand at Rizal Park, a
popular tourist destination just a few blocks from police
headquarters.
Before the crisis ended, China's foreign ministry urged
Philippine authorities to ensure the Hong Kong tourists were
rescued safely.
Monday's bus hijack recalled a similar hostage-taking in 2007,
when a troubled civil engineer armed with a grenade took over a bus
and held 30 children but freed them after a 10-hour standoff with
police.
The 2007 drama took place near Manila city hall, just off Rizal
Park.
Monday's tragedy also added to a fast-growing number of attacks
of foreigners in the Philippines.
Gunmen shot dead a South Korean man in a separate attack on
Monday morning in another section of Manila. Police said the
incidents were not related.
Last month, an American, a South African, a Briton and their
Filipina partners were killed in spate of murder-robberies in
Angeles City north of Manila. The alleged killer was arrested.
