HK tourists taken hostage not on way to Manila Ocean Park

MANILA, Philippines - The management of the Manila Ocean Park (MOP) said Monday the group of Hong Kong tourists taken hostage were not bound for the attraction.

In a text message to ABS-CBN News, Armi Cortes of the MOP sales and marketing office, said the group of tourists aboard the Hong Thai tourist bus does not have a scheduled booking at the park.
"According to our sources, they came from Fort Santiago and then was on [their] way to another destination in Manila, but not at Manila Ocean Park," the message said.

"We will do our best to lend assistance to the current situation," the message added.
The Manila Ocean Park, a smaller version of Hong Kong's famed Ocean Park, is the Philippines' first oceanarium It opened in March 2008 and is owned by China Oceanis Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of China Oceanis Group Ltd.

Hostage crisis ends in bloody carnage; 7 hostages dead

The hostage crisis in Manila ended in a bloody carnage Monday night, after a SWAT team assaulted a tourist bus full of mostly Chinese nationals, resulting in the death of hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza, a disgruntled former Manila police officer, and at least seven hostages, according to dzBB.

The police attacked shortly after 7:30 p.m. after Mendoza was heard firing his gun from inside the bus. Bus driver Alberto Lubang, 38, had escaped minutes before the attack and told police that hostages had already been killed. Some observers said Mendoza was provoked by the sight of his emotional policeman-brother Gregorio Mendoza being pacified and taken away.

Policemen spent several minutes trying to enter through the doors and windows, using sledgehammers. They threw tear gas inside the bus before forcing open the emergency exit in the back at 8:13 p.m. By that time, Mendoza was dead, and so were apparently some of the hostages.

Mendoza was confirmed dead after a shot in the head from a police sniper. The hostage taker was armed with an M-16 and a .45 caliber pistol.

Four hostages were confirmed dead, according to presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda. Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo told reporters that at least six of the hostages were confirmed alive. The fate of the other hostages, meanwhile, was unknown as of posting time.

One of the survivors - a Chinese national currently being treated at the Ospital ng Maynila (OM) - narrated that Mendoza started randomly firing at the hostages at around 8 p.m. She said her husband, who was among the fatalities, used his body to shield her from the spray of bullets.

This resulted in the hostages sustaining gunshot wounds in different parts of their bodies.

She appealed to authorities to bring to OM her three young children, who might have been taken to another hospital.

The four hostages in OM are now stable, according to a report by Mariz Umali, and said they just wanted to go back to their hotels to be able to rest.

Mendoza was fired from his post as chief of the Manila Police's Mobile Patrol Unit in 2008 after he was charged with robbery and extortion, or the so-called hulidap practice of some police of planting evidence and seeking a pay-off from the victims.

Mendoza claimed he was innocent and appealed to be reinstated. His sympathetic brother and fellow policeman, SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza, told reporters his kuya had grown tired of waiting for justice.

He hijacked the bus at around 10 a.m. after hitching a ride just as the tourists were moving from Fort Santiago to Manila Ocean Park. The bus stopped in front of the Quirino Grandstand, the festive site of President Noynoy Aquino's inauguration last June 30.

That was where Mendoza posted hand-written messages on the bus windows, including "Big deal will start after 3 p.m. today." Police negotiators tried in vain to convince him to surrender. The stand-off ended in bloodshed in the heart of Manila's tourist district.

Presidential spokesman Lacierda told Palace reporters two hours after the assault that President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III was "meeting with the police, the DILG officials, and [Manila] Mayor [Alfredo] Lim. As of now, four hostages has been confirmed dead, one in critical condition. We will be issuing a statement later tonight."

Of the six hostages taken to Ospital ng Maynila, two were declared dead after sustaining several gunshot wounds in different parts of the body. —With Jam Sisante/KBK/VS, HS, GMANews.TV

HK issues Philippine travel ban after bloody hostage-taking

The Security Bureau of Hong Kong advised its citizens to avoid all travel to the Philippines an hour after the hostage crisis ended Monday.

In an outbound travel alert, the Security Bureau, changed its “amber alert warning" - meaning there were signs of threat - for the Philippines to a “black alert warning" indicating severe threats on the country’s security.

The Hong Kong warning stated that a “serious kidnap incident happened in the Philippines. [R]esidents should avoid all travel to the country; those who are already there should attend to their personal safety and exercise caution."

The travel warning came after the 10-hour hostage crisis ended with at least 4 Chinese nationals killed. Hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza, a former police office, was shot in the head by a SWAT sniper.

Six of the hostages were confirmed alive, and the fate of the rest of the hostages were unknown. —Jerrie Abella/VS, GMANews.TV