Manila Bus Hostage Taking Mishandled?

Manila Bus Hostage Taking Mishandled? - After 11 hours of thrill and suspense the hostage taking of 22 foreign nationals and 4 Filipinos on a bus in Quirino Grandstand ended in a bloody tragedy. The media focuses on the number of people killed and how former Police Senior Insp. Rolando Mendoza hostage the bus and in the end claimed the lives of 8 people, but what caused his sudden violent reaction?

The hostage taking of a Manila Tourist Bus, Hong Thai Travel and Tours and its passengers were taken hostage by Police Senior Insp. Rolando Mendoza, a former member of the Manila Police District. Mendoza was dismissed just 2 years before his retirement for allegations of grave threats and grave misconduct.

Mendoza received various medal of honor as a policeman and his fellow policeman says that he is one good police officer. He raised from the ranks, starting as a patrolman then earned the honor of being an officer with due diligence. However, on this day he is an enemy and a hostage taker. Armed with with an M-16 rifle he took over the bus and seeks attention of his case with the Ombudsman.

Negotiators were sent to talk to him and during the course of the day he had released about 10 hostages. The passengers even had time to sleep and eat and became witness to the fact that indeed Mendoza was a good man.  Mendoza also released hostages, about 10 during the day.

Later that night everything changed, as they handed the letter of the Ombudsman assuring that Mendoza will get a fair trial, he also saw on the TV screen how his brother SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza was arrested and threated like a criminal. At that moment a series of gunshots was heard and the mayhem began.

The end result, former Police Senior Insp. Rolando Mendoza was dead and shot on the head and 8 of the hostages lay dead while about four others are wounded. The hostage taking is over, the question would it be different if his brother was not arrested as shown by the media?

Police say that they believe Gregorio Mendoza was an accomplish to the hostage taking because he is present at the scene of the crime. But if you happen to be the brother of the hostage taker would you not be there? Would you not care to see what happened and bring sense to your brother? The motive being raised by the police and their reason for arresting Mendoza's brother for me was illogical and if they had been more prudent the whole bloody ending could have been avoided.

Here is the excerpt from a news article published by ABS-CBN regarding the arrest of Gregorio Mendoza:

The hostage-taker's brother was forcibly handcuffed and taken in by authorities for allegedly being an accessory to the crime.

Gregorio Mendoza tried to resist his apparent arrest after negotiations with his brother did not go as planned.

"They want to make me an accessory. They said that if something happened, they would get me for it. Gusto nila akong idaan sa likod. Tumakbo lang ako," he told ABS-CBN's TV Patrol minutes before police placed him and other relatives inside a waiting police car.

Mendoza earlier accompanied the 2 hostage negotiators, Superintendent Orlando Yebra Jr. and Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador, in talking to his brother.

He earlier said that he had no knowledge of the hostage-taking incident and was only informed of the situation via text. -- With Agence France-Presse

This is our point of view on another case which ended in tragedy. What do you think? Did the police did the right thing? Share us your thoughts.

Manila Bus Hostage-taking Ends with 8 Dead Video from www.webcastr.com




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