Court junks Gregorio Mendoza's motion to dismiss case

A Manila court on Tuesday junked the petition of the brother of slain hostage-taker Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza to dismiss the serious disobedience case filed against him in connection with the August 23 Manila hostage tragedy. During the hearing, Judge Ermin Ernest Louie Miguel of the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court branch 11 also set the arraignment of PO2 Gregorio Mendoza next month. Mendoza of the Manila Traffic Enforcement Unit (MTEU) said his lawyers would file a motion for reconsideration. “It was denied but there is a Motion for Reconsideration. I am okay. I’m relaxed," he said. In dismissing Mendoza’s motion, Miguel said all the elements presented by the police — affidavit of Police Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador, the deputy negotiator during the hostage crisis, and the report by the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC), among others — formed parts of the evidence to support the charges against him.

Mendoza’s arrest during the critical moment in the 11-hour hostage crisis triggered his brother’s shooting rampage that resulted in the deaths of eight hostages, all of them Chinese tourists from Hong Kong. He was arrested for allegedly meddling with the negotiations. The IIRC, the inter-agency panel formed to look into the hostage-taking incident, has already recommended charges against 13 individuals, including some government and police officials as well as media personalities. Malacañang is currently reviewing the report. Mendoza, who was not included in the IIRC list, defended the panel’s report. “These people (critics of IIRC report) do not know that I was already charged before this (report) came out," he said. “I was already charged. Even if I did not do anything wrong, and I am a victim, they already charged me," he added . Fr. Robert Reyes, the so-called running priest, was present during Tuesday’s hearing to support Mendoza. - KBK, GMANews.TV