- Title: PHILIPPINES: Manila hijack probe reveals more police lapses
- Date: 5th September 2010
- Summary: MANILA, PHILIPPINES (SEPTEMBER 4, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS ARRIVING IN HALL FOR HEARING POLICE OFFICERS SEATED MEMBERS OF HONG KONG INVESTIGATING TEAM TALKING HONG KONG INVESTIGATING TEAM SEATED INVESTIGATING PANEL FROM L-R: NATIONAL BROADCASTING ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT HERMAN BASBANO, INTERIOR SECRETARY JESSE ROBREDO, JUSTICE SECRETARY LEILA DE LIMA, ANTI-CRIME CRUSADER AND FILIPINO-CHINESE COMMUNITY LEADER TERESITA ANG-SEE, AND LAWYER ROAN LIBARIOS CHIEF INSPECTOR ROMEO SALVADOR, ASSISTANT NEGOTIATOR, GIVING TESTIMONY HONG KONG INVESTIGATORS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) CHIEF INSPECTOR ROMEO SALVADOR, ASSISTANT NEGOTIATOR, SAYING: "I recommended to grab Captain Mendoza (the hostage-taker) NATIONAL BROADCASTING ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT HERMAN BASBANO ASKING (English): "To whom?" SALVADOR (Filipino): "To Colonel Yebra." BASBANO (English): "At what instance? The first time, second time or the last?" SALVADOR (Filipino): "The first time we came close." BASBANO (English): "Okay, what was the reaction?" SALVADOR (Filipino): "I was not allowed." BASBANO: "Why? What were you told?" SALVADOR (Filipino): "It wasn't in accordance to the hostage-taking manual" HONG KONG OFFICIALS LISTENING LAWYER ROAN LIBARIOS ASKING (Filipino): "And the last option you were referring to? What is the last option that you're saying?" CHIEF INSPECTOR ROMEO SALVADOR, ASSISTANT NEGOTIATOR SAYING (English): "The reinstatement of Captain Mendoza." LIBARIOS (English/Filipino): "So you think that if the reinstatement order was given, even if temporary, the crisis would end peacefully?" SALVADOR (English): "Yes, your honour." LIBARIOS (English): "Do you think the ending of the entire crisis would rest on the issuance of a temporary reinstatement, only temporary though, would result the entire crisis? SALVADOR (Filipino): "What was important for him was that he could return to the service. After that, he was happy. He knew that he would likely face charges." INVESTIGATING PANEL VARIOUS OF METRO MANILA POLICE CHIEF, DIRECTOR LEOCADIO SANTIAGO, GIVING TESTIMONY (SOUNDBITE) (English) METRO MANILA POLICE CHIEF, DIRECTOR LEOCADIO SANTIAGO SAYING: "It's no doubt a go for the assault, ma'm." JUSTICE SECRETARY LEILA DE LIMA ASKING (English): "No doubt a go for the assault?" SANTIAGO (English): "Yes ma'm." DE LIMA (English): "Is there an underlying premise that the negotiation had failed." SANTIAGO (English): "Obviously ma'm, it had failed because the hostages were already being killed." CAMERAMEN FILMNIG, AS MANILA VICE-MAYOR ISKO MORENO TESTIFIES MORENO GIVING TESTIMONY (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) JUSTICE SECRETARY LEILA DE LIMA SAYING: "No one anticipated that the situation could worsen, as you had all gone separate paths." (SOUNDBITE) (English) HERMAN BASBANO SAYING: "In the hotel? How far was the hotel from the site?" VICE-MAYOR ISKO MORENO (Filipino): "Oh, perhaps not more than one kilometre." BASBANO (English): "You were monitoring? You were saying you were monitoring." MORENO (English): "In my personal capacity, I'm monitoring the situation." BASBANO (English): "Okay. Did you get in touch with other local officials or national officials during that time?" MORENO (English): "I was alone, sir, lonely in the bar, having my coffee." BASBANO (English): "Having your coffee. You said you were monitoring?" MORENO (English): "Yes. There's a television." CAMERA OPERATORS FILMING AND OBSERVERS LISTENING HONG KONG INVESTIGATORS TAKING NOTES CAMERA OPERATORS FILMING INVESTIGATING PANEL STAFF TAKING NOTES
- Embargoed: 20th September 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Philippines
- Country: Philippines
- Reuters ID: LVAWRYQ6VYSHW7UZAC1NJ7JCVXX
- Story Text: The committee investigating the bus hijack in Manila continued hearing witnesses involved in the crisis on Saturday (September 4), exposing procedural lapses in the negotiations and rescue operations that ended with the death of eighth tourists dead.
Police investigators from Hong Kong were allowed to listen in at the hearings.
The Manila police drew sharp criticism for a botched a raid that followed an 11-hour stand-off.
One of the points hurled at the police was why the gunman was not taken down despite several opportunities. The hostage-taker, former police captain Rolando Mendoza, opened the door of the bus several times to release some hostages or speak to the negotiators.
Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador, who was assistant negotiator in the hostage-taking, said he offered to seize the hostage-taker when they approached him, but he was not given clearance.
"I was not allowed...It wasn't in accordance to the hostage-taking manual," he told an investigating panel that included the secretaries of justice and interior.
The hostage-taker, Rolando Mendoza, was a disgruntled ex-police captain who was sacked due to extortion charges. He demanded reinstatement, but the only communication that reached him was that the ombudsman would review his case.
"So you think that if the reinstatement order was given, even if temporary, the crisis would end peacefully?" asked the lawyer in the panel, Roan Libarios.
"Yes, your honour," Salvador said.
"Do you think the ending of the entire crisis would rest on the issuance of a temporary reinstatement, only temporary though, would result the entire crisis?" Libarios pressed.
"What was important for him was that he could return to the service. After that, he was happy. He knew that he would likely face charges," Salvador said.
Director Leocadio Santiago, who heads the Metro Manila Region Police, who at the last minute drafted a communication saying the hostage-taker could be reinstated, said he dispatched a motorcycle to send the document. But before it could reach the hostage-taker, the commanding general Rodolfo Magtibay called for an assault, based on information that the gunman was shooting the hostages.
"Is there an underlying premise that the negotiation had failed?" de Lima asked.
"Obviously ma'm, it had failed because the hostages were already being killed," Santiago said.
The hostage-taker stopped answering phone calls at this point, the witnesses said.
The testimonies have also revealed lack of communication among the crisis committee members, with key officials even trooping to a nearby restaurant which had no working television set. They communicated via mobile phones and radio, Santiago said.
Manila vice-mayor Isko Moreno, who was part of the crisis committee and played a role earlier in the stand-off when he got the ombudsman to agree to a review of the hostage-taker's case, later proceeded to a hotel bar and watched the events from a television.
Members of the crisis committee, which included the Manila mayor and the undersecretary of interior, were also questioned for not elevating the matter to a higher level. The negotiations and rescue operations were handled by Manila police, which the gunman was formerly a part of.
The Philippine government vowed to conduct a thorough investigation on the bus hijack, as outrage continued in Hong Kong.
The hearings continued until early Saturday night, and will resume on Monday (September 6), when the panel will conduct a re-enactment of the hostage-taking. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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