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The Animated Version of the Hostage.
Note from the maker of the animation
EVEN THOUGH WE NEED FORENSIC EVIDENCE IN ORDER TO SIMULATE THE POSSIBLE OCCURRENCES DURING THE CRIME THIS IS JUST A RECREATION OF WHAT HAPPENED, IT IS NOT 100% ACCURATE AND DOES NOT INTEND TO MISLEAD THE PEOPLE.
NO COPYRIGHT INFRIGMENT INTENDED.
Video Courtesy by MasterDexDawg
HONGKONG CRITICIZES THE HANDLING OF HOSTAGE CRISIS
HONG KONG - Hong Kong's leader Donald Tsang criticised the handling of a hostage crisis in the Philippine capital on Monday in which seven Hong Kong tourists were killed after police commandos stormed the bus they were held in for more than 10 hours.
A gunman, identified as 55-year-old ex-police captain Rolando Mendoza who was armed with an M-16 assault rifle, held 15 tourists hostage on a wide road in Manila's biggest park in the morning.
(picture from Malaya Online)
Two more hostages were seriously wounded.
"It is most regrettable," said Tsang who appeared close to tears during a press conference. "The way it was handled, particularly the outcome, I find is disappointing," said Tsang.
Others in Hong Kong reacted with shock and some anger after what appeared to an ineffective rescue operation, with thousands glued to their television sets as live footage of the hostage drama played on local television for much of the day.
Such hostage incidents are extremely rare for residents of the financial hub and former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Police commandos could be seen breaking the windows of the bus minutes after a series of gunshots were heard and the driver of the bus was seen running to safety.
The commandos then struggled repeatedly to smash their way into the bus for over half an hour. As they did so, further gunshots could be heard, causing the officers to duck down and take cover. After around an hour the gunman was eventually killed and the hostages freed.
"It's a tragedy and a farce," said Kevin Chan, a Hong Kong resident. "Why did it take them so long to get into the bus? They're not well disciplined and trained. Are they crazy?"
Another Hong Kong resident Sunny Ho said things could have been handled through calmer negotiations rather than brute force.
"It's really tragic, the Philippine police and government are totally incompetent. The government should have agreed to the request of the gunman and rescued the people first!" Ho said.
A batch of hostages including three children were earlier freed. "I hope the Philippines government can give me a full account of what happened," Tsang said.
(REPORT FROM REUTERS/YAHOO)
News from CNN
News from ABS-CBN TV Patrol(Tagalog)
Why did Mendoza stage a Hostage Drama?
News from Saksi (GMA-7)
ITN News
Swat Strategies?
Malacañang Presscon
FULL REPORT
The 2010 Manila hostage crisis occurred on August 23, 2010, in front of the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines, when a dismissed police officer from the Manila Police District, former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza (10 January 1955 - 23 August 2010), took 25 people hostage aboard a bus.
By the evening, the police assaulted the bus after gunshots were heard, eventually leading to the shooting and subsequent death of Mendoza. Nine Chinese nationals from Hong Kong died in the incident.
The hostage taker was identified as Rolando Mendoza (earlier named as "Reynaldo") by the Philippine National Police (PNP); he was a former high-ranking commissioned police officer. Mendoza demanded to be reinstated with benefits to his previous post at the Manila Police District, from which he had been dismissed for extortion in 2009.
The Ombudsman found Mendoza and four others guilty of misconduct for allegedly extorting P20,000 from Christian Kalaw, a chef of the Mandarin Hotel, Manila on April 9, 2008. Administrative charges against Mendoza were filed on April 25, 2008, after which he was relieved as Chief of the Mobile Patrol Unit. In August 2008, the Manila Prosecutors Office Eighth Division dismissed the case after Kalaw failed to attend the dismissal proceedings; the PNP Internal Affairs Service recommended the dismissal of the case on October 17, 2008, for the same reason.
Mendoza graduated with a degree in criminology, joined the police force as a patrolman, and rose to become senior inspector. He was decorated 17 times, for bravery and honor. Colleagues at the Manila Police District said he was hard-working and kind.On February 1986, Mendoza led a group of policemen that flagged down a van which turned out to be carrying 13 crates full of money which Ferdinand Marcos was trying to take out of the Philippines. Mendoza and his team turned the shipment over to authorities. That year, Mendoza was awarded as one of the Ten Outstanding Policemen of the Philippines by Jaycees International.
In 2008, hotel chef Christian Kalaw alleged he was accosted by Mendoza and several officers over an parking violation, that they planted sachets of methamphetamine in his car, forced him to take the drug, accused him of being a drug addict, and demanded he empty his automatic teller machine and hand over the money. Kalaw said the policemen released him after a friend raised 20,000 pesos. The Office of the Ombudsman ordered Mendoza dismissed from the service, and the loss of all his benefits. Mendoza's brother, Gregorio, said that all his brother wanted was a fair hearing by the Ombudsman, who "never even gave him a chance to defend himself; they immediately dismissed him."
Boarding
The bus was taking on its passengers, Hong Kong tourists on a Hong Thai Travel Services tour, in front of Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park. They were to be taken to the Grand Lisboa casino. Mendoza followed the tourists onto the coach requesting a free ride. When his request was declined by the driver, Mendoza brandished a weapon, handcuffed the driver and hijacked the coach. Mendoza was carrying an M16 rifle.
There were 21 Hong Kong holidaymakers, a bus driver, a Filipino tour guide, and Tse, the trip's Hong Kong tour guide aboard the bus. Tse immediately alerted his employing agency in Hong Kong to the situation by telephone shortly after 10:30am. He was able to speak to the Assistant Customer services manager for two minutes, during which time Tse calmly informed her that his group was being held hostage. Mendoza demanded to be reinstated to his previous post with benefits[3], saying he was framed. Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said he would grant Mendoza's wish to be reinstated if he could prove himself.
Negotiations
Almost an hour later, six Hong Kong tourists (three children, a mother and an elderly couple) were freed by Mendoza. The freed hostages were taken to a police precinct in Rizal Park.The elderly lady was the first to be relieved from the bus due to her old age, followed by her husband. The woman was released along with her two children - a boy aged 10 and a girl aged 5. When she left, she asked to have the third child (a 12-year-old boy), released as well, lying to Mendoza by claiming to be related to the boy. Two Filipino photographers boarded the bus, volunteering to be taken hostage in exchange for the aforementioned releases.
By noon, four additional hostages (including the Filipino tour guide and the two photographers who volunteered to be taken hostage) were released by Mendoza, bringing the total to ten. TV5 news anchor Erwin Tulfo remained in permanent contact with Mendoza, with Superintendent Orlando Yebra and Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador leading negotiations. 17 more people remained on the bus. By this time, several news media were providing blow-by-blow coverages on cable news. ABS-CBN, GMA Network, TV5 and National Broadcasting Network were providing live coverage in Manila; TVB and Cable TV also provided live coverage in Hong Kong from noon onwards.
The Office of the Ombudsman disallowed Mendoza's request to be reinstated in the police, although they assured him that his case would be reviewed. Manila vice mayor Isko Moreno delivered the letter from the Ombudsman to the hostage scene.
When the Manila Police District (MPD) SWAT team arrived, Mendoza declared on a radio interview on DZXL that he would kill the passengers and wanted the SWAT team to leave the area.His brother, Senior Police Officer (SPO) 2 Gregorio Mendoza, walked out after negotiating with his brother. He urged him to surrender peacefully and told his brother that "Nothing will happen here."Gregorio Mendoza was later arrested, the MPD stating that he was not asked to assist in the negotiations, and that he had breached the exclusion zone while carrying a gun.
Assault
Wikinews has related news: Hong Kong tourists held hostage in the Philippines, nine killed As night fell, both sides grew increasingly impatient and wary over the prospect of a prolonged stalemate -- no significant negotiation progress had been made. Mendoza was thought to have fired warning shots as he saw his brother and son being hauled away by the police. Mendoza claimed on live radio that he had killed two hostages. After Mendoza witnessed the arrest of his brother via the TV and radio on board the bus which was covered live by the media, he became distressed and ordered the police to release his brother over the radio, or else he would start executing hostages.
The first shots were fired inside the bus at about 7:25 pm, and police mounted an assault on the bus at around 7:45 pm. Subsequent shots were fired at the rear of the cabin, producing several bullet holes, cracks and indents in the window towards the rear right of the bus; hostages were heard screaming. After an attempt was made to drive the coach away from the scene, police marksmen fired several rounds to deflate the tires. The driver, who was earlier reported to be handcuffed to the steering wheel, escaped after more shots were fired and told the police that all hostages on the tour bus were killed.
In heavy rain, the MPD assaulted the bus. At 8:18 p.m., rapid fire was heard. The policemen broke some windows of the bus with sledgehammers and tried to enter the bus, but were repelled by gun fire. The attempt to board the coach lasted for about an hour. Thereafter, four tear gas canisters were thrown into the bus as police struggled to open the door. Unfortunately, none of the policemen knew about the emergency door opener, which would had saved them time and effort. According to a female hostage by the surname of Leung who spoke to the media reporters after the crisis was over, Mendoza started shooting randomly at the hostages at around 8:00 p.m.
Mendoza died after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head. Police snipers who had taken up positions around the bus earlier in the day claimed credit for shooting Mendoza. According to presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, four more hostages were confirmed dead; Interior and Local Government secretary Jesse Robredo said six hostages were confirmed alive and not seriously injured. The fate of the other hostages was unknown at the time. Two other people outside the bus were reportedly wounded by stray bullets: a 47-year-old TVB news crew engineer; a child bystander, who was hit in the waist.
Aftermath
Hostages
Six hostages were taken to the Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center, where two were declared dead while four were declared stable. Two hostages were taken to the Philippine General Hospital in nearby Ermita, Manila. Another six hospitalised victims (among which the head tour guide, also a Hong Kong national) from all three hospitals were subsequently declared dead, bringing the total number of confirmed fatalities to eight with at least one person remaining in critical condition and one in serious condition. The six survivors had minor to substantial injuries and were put under medical observation. The survivor Mrs. Leung bemoaned at the length of time before the police stormed the bus.
Victims
The list of identified victims has been disclosed to the media. Among the nine fatalities are a man between 40–45 years of age and two 14- and 21-year-old girls, all surnamed Leung, believed to be the husband and children of the surviving Mrs. Leung.
REACTIONS
Chinese government
Wang Xiaobo, the Chinese Consulate General in Philippines, was on-the-spot on behalf of Chinese goverment. After the crisis resolved, he immediately asked for a written statement from the Philippine government. Later on, he rejected President Benigno Aquino III's explanation, which was read by the President in a Press Conference held on the early morning of August 24, 2010.
The Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, Yang Jiechi, called the Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, saying he was "appalled" at the events and demanding an investigation. The Chinese government also sent a team to the Philippines to deal with the situation.
In an analysis of the event, the Communist Party Global Times called the Philippines as "one of the most chaotic countries in Southeast Asia."
Hong Kong government
At 21:46 on the day of the assault, the Security Bureau of Hong Kong revised their assessment to the personal safety of Hong Kong residents in the Philippines, and announced a 'black' outbound travel alert for that country: Hong Kong residents are advised against traveling to the Philippines, and residents on location were advised to be alert and to return to Hong Kong as soon as possible. Two chartered airplanes from Cathay Pacific Airways were to fly the survivors back to Hong Kong.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang expressed anger at Mendoza and also offered his condolence to the victims' families, stating that the government would do anything within its power to aid and rehabilitate the survivors and their families. He also criticised the way the siege was handled, particularly the outcome.
It was announced that all Hong Kong SAR flags at official locations will be at half-mast at noon, local Hong Kong time (GMT+8), on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 to mourn the victims of the hostage crisis. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange also planned a minute's silence.
Philippine government
The President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino III expressed concern over the matter and gave his condolences to the victims. He defended the actions of the police at the scene, saying the gunman had not shown any sign of wanting to kill the hostages.[40] In addition, he declared that the news media may have worsened the situation by giving the shooter "a bird's-eye view of the entire situation".
The decision to arrest Mendoza's brother during the process of negotiation was questioned. In response, Manila Vice-Mayor Isko Moreno told CNN that Mendoza's brother was guilty of conspiring with the hostage-taker and allegedly helped instigate the shooting.
MPD commander Leocadio Santiago admitted that mistakes have been made, "We saw some obvious shortcomings in terms of capability and tactics used, or the procedure employed and we are now going to investigate this," he said on local television.
The Congress of the Philippines has also acted upon the botched operation. Several members of the House of Representatives condemned the hostage-taking while criticizing how the MPD handled the situation.[42] Representative Gabriel Luis Quisumbing (Lakas-Kampi, Cebu–6th) blamed the non-stop coverage of the media on the event, saying the live coverage "may have jeopardized police rescue operations on site" and authored a bill in which "media coverage should be contained as not to hinder or obstruct efforts to resolve the situation".Rodolfo Biazon (Liberal, Muntinlupa) blamed on the command structure of the MPD, saiyng there was no clear person in command.
The Philippines will send a a high-level delegation to Hong Kong to meet and explain to officials there what happened in the hostage crisis; this comes at unconfirmed reports that a Filipina was fired by her employer after the event.
Unites States government
The U.S. embassy in Manila also condemned the hostage incident saying that "We join many others in condemning the actions of an alleged former Philippine National Police officer who took innocent tourists hostages in an effort to redress a professional grievance."
Hong Kong media
The event was named the "Manila massacre" by the Oriental Daily. Title of issue in Yahoo! Hong Kong is "Inept Filipino Police - 8 Hong Kong holidaymakers were killed".The Manila police and the Philippines government were strongly criticized by Hong Kong media for the way in which they dealt with the situation.
Financial reaction
The Philippine peso slumped at the start of trading following the bloody end to the hostage-taking incident. It lost 16 centavos to start trading. The Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index slid 2.3%, the most in 11 weeks following the event.
(credits from Wikipedia)
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