Mendoza may have killed hostages ‘in all likelihood’ — De Lima

In all likelihood, it was hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza's firearm that killed the eight Hong Kong tourists during the August 23 hostage tragedy in Manila, Justice secretary Leila de Lima said Monday. De Lima, head of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) looking into the hostage tragedy, cited survivors' testimonies that said Mendoza, a dismissed policeman seeking reinstatement, fired at his hostages before members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) launched an assault and eventually killed him. "It would appear from the survivors' account that Mendoza's shooting (at the hostages) happened before the assault. That is what is appearing now," De Lima told reporters after the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation reenacted the critical points in the hostage crisis. Still not conclusive Asked whether friendly fire may have not killed the hostages, De Lima said: "In all likelihood." She however said that the body is not yet ruling out the possibility that friendly fire may have killed the victims. "Again, it's not a 100 percent conclusion," she said.

De Lima likewise said that a victim was killed when he grabbed the muzzle of Mendoza's firearm, while another was shot dead when he tried to disable Mendoza. The first to be killed was tour guide Masa Tse, who was handcuffed to a railing on the bus' front area. De Lima did not yet identify the other victims and the manner they were shot. Ballistics test De Lima said the PNP has asked for two more weeks to wrap up their ballistics tests on the guns used by Mendoza and the policemen, and the bullets found in the crime scene. She said that the IIRC will include a partial ballistics report when it submits its "unassailable" report to President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday. De Lima said Philippine investigators will likewise summarize Hong Kong authorities' own ballistics tests done through a more superior technology, the Integrated Ballistics Identification System. "Sa kanila (Hong Kong) kaya mga two days, dito sa atin mga one month (Hong Kong police can do the ballistic tests in two days while we can do it in around a month's time)," she said. - Sophia Regina Dedace/KBK, GMANews.TV