AN EMBITTERED policeman was shot dead by police marksmen in Manila yesterday after killing at least seven tourists he had taken hostage in a fatally ill-conceived plot to get his job back.
Furious about being sacked for misconduct two years ago, Rolando Mendoza (55) began his murderous mission yesterday morning at the historic walled city of Intramuros, where, armed with an M16 automatic rifle, he hitched a lift on a bus carrying visitors from Hong Kong, who were on the final day of their tour of the country. When the vehicle reached José Rizal park, near Manila Bay, he announced that he was taking the 24 passengers hostage until he was guaranteed a return to his job.
On the door of the bus, he stuck a note saying: “Big mistake to correct a big wrong decision.” A larger piece of paper on the windscreen stated: “Release final decision” and outlined the details of the miscarriage of justice – as he saw it – that led to his sacking.
According to local media reports, Mendoza had once been a model policeman who was named as one of the 10 best officers in the Philippines. He fell from grace in 2008 when a hotel manager accused him and four other officers of planting drugs in his property as part of a blackmail plot, shortly before he was due to retire.
Manila’s police chief Rodolfo Magtibay confirmed that Mendoza had been lobbying for reinstatement. Initial prospects for a peaceful resolution looked good. Early images from the standoff showed Mendoza wearing a khaki jacket and standing in a relatively relaxed pose in the door of the bus, as passengers gazed out from behind the curtains.
At this stage, the two sides were negotiating and Mendoza appeared ready to make concessions. In full view of TV crews scrambled to the scene, he freed nine hostages, including children and a person with diabetes. He requested food for the remaining 15 passengers and fuel for the air-conditioning. His brother, Gregorio, also a senior police officer, was involved in the dialogue and the deputy mayor promised to lobby on his behalf with the police ombudsman.
But the scene grew considerably more tense after his brother delivered a reply from the ombudsman regarding his request for reinstatement. Soon after, sounds of gunfire emerged from inside the coach. The driver escaped through a window and shouted out that everyone was dead. According to the police, he claimed that Mendoza had opened fire on his hostages.
Viewers around the world watched a bloodbath unfold live on television as a heavily armed team of at least nine officers, wearing helmets and bulletproof vests, surrounded the vehicle and stormed in through the rear emergency exit after smashing the windows with a sledgehammer.
More shots rang out and then, following a period of silence, police began evacuating survivors to ambulances waiting in the rain nearby. One middle-aged woman was sobbing. At least two bodies had to be passed through shattered windows. Mendoza’s body was lifeless near the door. In addition to the seven hostages killed, the Chinese embassy said four people were injured, two seriously.
After the deadly outcome, police colonel Nelson Yabut said his men had to kill Mendoza, after 30 commandos had used tear gas and flash bombs in an attempt to end the standoff without further bloodshed. “We did everything to negotiate and end this peacefully, but he gave us no choice,” he said.
Philippine president Benigno Aquino said negotiators had thought the situation would be resolved peacefully. "Unfortunately that changed, and it changed quite rapidly," he said, adding there would be an investigation into what caused the situation to deteriorate, including the role of the media. – ( Guardianservices)