Philippine bus driver recounts Manila hostage drama

Alberto Lubang, the bus driver who survived the August 23 hostage crisis in Manila,
takes an oath before testifying before a hearing at the Department of Justice in Manila, on
September 6. Lubang has told the public inquiry how he witnessed the gunman shoot
more than a dozen Hong Kong visitors one by one as talks broke down.
Slideshow: Faces of Asia PH

MANILA (AFP) - – The driver of a Philippine tourist bus hijacked by a sacked

policeman told a public inquiry Tuesday how he witnessed the gunman shoot more than a
dozen Hong Kong visitors one by one as talks broke down.

Bus driver Alberto Lubang said his left hand was handcuffed to the steering wheel and he
saw the horrific scenes unfold at the back of the bus through the rear-view mirror as the
day-long standoff ended in a bloodbath.

"I heard the first shot and then I saw a hostage cuffed to the stairwell fall down," Lubang,
a shaven-headed 38 year-old, said.

"Seconds later he (the gunman) had reached the back and (was) shooting again at the
passengers sat there," he said.

"He was on the aisle, by the middle. I saw him by the rear-view mirror. He was shooting
left and right. Afterwards he went into a crouch," he added.

Lubang said he managed to unpick the handcuffs using a nail file and jumped out of the
window beside the steering wheel shortly before police launched an assault.

Armed with an assault rifle and a pistol, sacked policeman Rolando Mendoza took the
busload of tourists hostage on August 23 in a desperate bid to clear himself of extortion
charges and get his old job back.

Eight of the tourists were killed and seven others were injured in the central Manila
standoff.

Police said post mortem examinations showed the bullets recovered from the bodies of
the dead tourists all came from Mendoza's guns.

The standoff, which played out live on global television, came to a bloody end in the
early evening when police stormed the bus in a botched attempt to rescue the hostages. A
police sniper eventually shot dead the gunman.

Lubang said he did not recall any crying or shouting by the victims, but conceded it was
possible his hearing had been deadened by the gunshot blasts inside the vehicle.
The driver said the 55 year-old gunman was not hostile in the first six hours of the crisis,
had cracked jokes and even ordered them to use their mobile phones to tell their relatives
that they had been taken captive.

His demeanour changed when his request to be reinstated to the Manila police force was
rejected, the witness said.

He became enraged when he saw police arresting his younger brother, a policeman who
had earlier helped in the negotiations, was later detained on suspicion of conspiring with
his older brother, Lubang said.

The driver said he escaped soon after Mendoza had ordered him to drive the bus forward.
Snipers deflated the tyres and the driver jumped out as police prepared to storm the
vehicle.

Lubang said he remembered telling police debriefers: "He (Mendoza) has killed all of
them."

President Benigno Aquino has taken responsibility for the tragedy, which has damaged
ties with Hong Kong and hurt the country's tourism industry.

The inquiry board, which has uncovered a series of embarrassing mistakes by the police
and local officials handling the hostage crisis, is expected to wind up the hearings
Wednesday before writing a report to be submitted to Aquino.

PNP crime lab: Not sure that Mendoza gun killed hostages

It is still premature to say that it was hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza's rifle that killed all
eight Hong Kong tourists, who were among the busload of hostages caught in the middle
of the Quirino Grandstand shootout last August 23. This is what an official of the
Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory told the Incident Investigation and
Review Committee (IIRC) on Wednesday, the fifth day of the marathon hearings on the
Manila hostage tragedy.

IIRC chair Justice Sec. Leila De Lima said that she issued a gag order on August 30 to
prevent premature disclosures, such as PNP spokesman Agrimero Cruz Jr.'s earlier
pronouncements that the victims were killed by bullets from Mendoza's M16 assault rifle.
"I seem to remember that the spokesperson of the PNP made an announcement that your
initial findings was that the shots were from Mendoza. That's the very reason why I gave
that gag order," De Lima reminded Superintendent Emmanuel Aranas, the police crime
lab’s assistant director for operations.
De Lima then asked whether “we have sufficient proof" to establish that conclusion.
Aranas explained that the initial ballistic tests were still inconclusive at that time. "When
our deputy director said initially 58 shots were found to be from [Mendoza’s] firearm,
this was an initial examination and it was not for media consumption," Aranas said,
adding that the information was shared during a conference without the claim that it was
a conclusion. An IIRC member later asked: "[So] we are not yet prepared to make the
conclusion that the victims were shot by the firearm of Mendoza?" "Not yet, your honor,"
Aranas replied.

NBI findings on gunshots Earlier in the day, the National Bureau of Investigation's
(NBI) medico-legal team presented its findings and said there are no indications that
the victims were shot at close range. This is in contrast with bus driver Alberto
Lubang's earlier testimony that Mendoza shot his victims point-blank, one by one.
However, the NBI acknowledged that the results are still inconclusive. (See: NBI: No
conclusion yet whether hostage victims shot at close range) De Lima said the probe
body wants to determine the real causes of deaths and injuries of the victims, if
Mendoza fired at his victims point-blank and if there were hostages who were hit in
the crossfire during the police assault. “We are trying to be careful in attending (to)
the findings," she said.

The IIRC may question those who conducted the autopsy and consult with other
experts if the panel is not “satisfied" with the explanation of PNP experts, De Lima
said. The medico-legal report was among the findings presented by the NBI on
Wednesday. The other presentations covered a recreation of the crime scene, bullet
trajectory investigation, and bullet hole identification.

Robredo shares ocular inspection findings

In the morning of August 23, Mendoza hijacked a Hong Thai Travel bus, declared a
hostage situation, and demanded his reinstatement in the police force. The standoff
lasted for 11 hours and resulted in the deaths of eight tourists. Mendoza was also
killed, supposedly by police snipers. During the ocular inspection of the bullet-
riddled Hong Thai bus at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City also on Wednesday,
however, IIRC co-chair and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse
Robredo said Mendoza may not have been killed by snipers as earlier claimed by
the police. (See: After checking bus, Robredo says Mendoza may not have been
killed by snipers)

Robredo, apparently sharing the findings of forensic experts, said the trajectory of
the bullets showed that the fatal wounds that killed Mendoza were caused by shots
from the assault team and not by police sharpshooters positioned at some distance
from the ill-fated tourist bus. Robredo added the probers are also trying to find out
why there were no blood splatters inside the bus. He also could not tell yet whether
“friendly fire," or gunfire from the assault team, hit the eight hostages who were
killed, although the police had already concluded in their investigation that the
fatalities were killed by Mendoza based on forensic exams..—JMA/JV,
GMANews.TV

Palace: Arresting reporters during hostage crisis ‘never crossed our

minds’

Ordering the arrest of reporters perceived by authorities as “crossing the line" during the
sAugust 23 hostage-taking incident never entered the mind of the Aquino administration,
unlike the previous government’s heavy-handed handling of reporters during the Manila
Peninsula siege in 2007.

This was the remark made on Wednesday by Herminio Coloma, head of Presidential
Communications Operations Office (PCOO), during a Lower House hearing on the
proposed 2011 budget of his agency.

Asked by Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez during the hearing if he would recommend to the
President the arrest of reporters like what happened in the Manila Peninsula siege after a
renegade force of soldiers rebelled against then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,
Coloma said President Benigno Aquino III does not believe in prior restraint. “No, your
honor [we won’t], in consonance with overall policy enunciated by the President when he
said that he doesn’t believe in imposing prior restraints," Coloma said.

The Aquino administration drew flak for what observers considered as its failure to
restrict members of media who reported the incident live.

Hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza, a dismissed police officer, was reportedly able to

monitor the movements of responding police through an on-board television set inside the
bus. The arrest of his brother, also broadcast live, reportedly enraged the hostage-taker
who then started shooting his victims. Coloma reiterated his statement when House
minority leader Edcel Lagman asked him if he thinks the government officials committed
a mistake when they did not implement the international protocol on hostage crisis, which
provides guidelines for media coverage during such times. “I respect your view. The
policy of this administration is not to impose any prior restraint to the exercise of
freedom of the press and expression your honor," Coloma said.

He also assured that the Palace will not censure the negative comments posted to the
Twitter and Facebook accounts of the President.

“We never censure the President’s account. Cyberspace is a democratic venue and we
will not be getting the authentic sentiment of the people if we will do that," he said.
Zambales Rep. Ma. Milagros Magsaysay asked why Secretary Ricardo Carandang, head
of the Presidential Communications and Strategic Planning Office, and Presidential
Spokesman Edwin Lacierda were absent in the hearing.

Coloma explained that the two officials are under the Office the President whose budget
will be deliberated on September 23. In reaction, Magsaysay said the setup was
confusing. “Iba-iba ang sinasabi niyong tatlo. Kaya pati kami nahihilo na. Nagkakaroon
ng di magandang outcome and pagde-deliver ng message (sa tao)," she said.

(You three are saying different things. Maybe that’s why we’re getting dizzy here.
Delivering your message to people is leading to an outcome that’s not good.)

Coloma replied he would relay the concern to the President.—Amita O. Legaspi/JV,

GMANews.TV