Noynoy

By JACQUI RICCI and FRANCO G. REGALA

MANILA – At least eight tourists from Hong Kong were killed Tuesday in a 10-hour standoff staged by a dismissed Manila policeman who held hostage 25 passengers of a tourist bus infront of the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.

Former Senior Insp. Rolando Mendoza, armed with an M-16 Armalite rifle and a short firearm and in police camouflage uniform, had demanded that he be reinstated in the service. He was killed by snipers during a police assault in the evening after several hours of negotiations. The hostage drama and killing which was beamed worldwide through live television was condemned all over the world by officials and experts, saying it was mishandled and resulted to needless deaths of the Hong Kong nationals and the bemedalled ex-police officer.
Members of police SWAT team first  shot the tires of the bus to immobilize the bus. Policemen smashed the front windows with sledgehammers and hurled teargas canisters in the initial attempt to enter the bus.

Mendoza was killed about an hour after the assault started. Earlier, Mendoza released several hostages, including a Filipino photographer. The bus driver later escaped through the bus window.

At that time of the assault, 15 hostages were still in the bus. At least six were taken alive from the bus, but most of them were wounded.
The hostage drama has taken its toll to Philippine tourism as Hong Kong’s security bureau advised its citizens to avoid travel to the country. Other countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and those in Europe followed with their warnings to their citizens.
From “amber alert warning”, the Hong Kong Security Bureau changed it to “black alert warning” which indicates severe threats on the country’s security.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi called his Philippine counterpart to express Beijing’s shock and demand a thorough investigation.
“The way it is handled — particularly the outcome — is very disappointing,”said  Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang as he led the mourning in the autonomous Chinese region.

The Hong Kong government raised a “black” travel alert for the Philippines, urging against all travel to one of Southeast Asia’s most popular tourist spots. Tour groups said they were cancelling all organised visits

The assault was triggered by Mendoza’s alleged firing inside the bus which was believed triggered by the arrest of his policeman-brother by policemen. Mendoza’s brother, SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza, was suspected to be in cahoots with the hostage taker, which he vehemently denied.

Filipino leaders and ordinary citizens, including workers in Hong Kong have united in condemning the deaths of Hong Kong Chinese tourists in Manila during hostage-taking incident on Monday, saying they are “greatly saddened” by its tragic ending — the deaths of at least eight of the 15 passengers in a tourist bus.

Hong Kong is home to at least 200,000 Filipinos, a large chunk as domestic workers for Hong Kong residents. The Filipinos’ message, sent to the Philippines News Agency, did not indicate if any of the Hong Kong victims was an employer of Filipinos.

”We call for justice to the victims and all assistance should be made available to them especially those who survived to help in their speedy recovery from their trauma,” said the group called United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-MIGRANTE-HK).

“We condole with the families in Hong Kong of those who died and sympathize with the other victims who got out safely but were surely traumatized by the tragic event of the past hours. Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong are appalled by this crime and greatly saddened by its ending,” the group added.
Officials from the Chinese Embassy expressed disappointment with the PNP for the prolonged incident.