9 killed on hijacked Philippine tourist bus

Pathetic.

Wow, the cops really screwed up on this one

"To prove my innocence, and that I deserve my job back, I'm gonna hijack a bus and kill innocent people." Moron, now you're dead

He obviously snapped from being "unjustly dismissed from service." I'm not defending his actions, but it would seem that his work meant a lot to him. If it ever turns out he was unjustly dismissed, that would be another slap to the Philippine bureaucracy.

n3312 at 09:57 AM JST - 24th August He obviously snapped from being "unjustly dismissed from service." I'm not defending his actions, but it would seem that his work meant a lot to him. If it ever turns out he was unjustly dismissed, that would be another slap to the Philippine bureaucracy.

n3312, would you honestly want someone like this armed on the streets "protecting" people? This individual clearly viewed violence as a solution to his problems, and that's exactly the sort of person you don't want as a police office.

Really tragic. I feel really sorry for the innocent victims. I'm frustrated that media gave a blow-by-blow account on live TV. The hostage taker knew everything that the police was doing because he watched TV inside the bus. The President should have ordered a media blackout. I hope this never happens again.

Wow, the cops really screwed up on this one

How so, we don't know 100% of the facts yet.

It is also difficult when the guy was a Police officer himself, trained in the response methods.

I was following this story from the beginning, it looked like the guy was willing to deal by releasing some hostages earlier.

Though the chain of events is unclear that lead to the killings.

Was it because the bus driver made a dash for safety that the killer started shooting? Or was it that the bus driver dashed for safety after the killer started shooting people. Why did he start shooting at people I guess would be the question, was it because the police decided to move in?

A lot of unanswered questions at the moment. Very difficult, close combat situation (inside a bus) etc.

Oh, combined with overflipped buses, annoying tour guides, annoying passengers, buses getting hijacked, is one of many reasons why I DON'T ride in tour buses.

Most news agencies have said that the police "stormed" the bus, but it certainly didn't look like it. I watched it on youtube and couldn't believe how long it took them to get in there. It literally took them several minutes, during which time I assume the hostages were killed.

Guns are just too easily available in Philippines.

My condolences for the victims and their family.

I would like to know if the bus were loaded with US Citizens, would the Philippines authorities handle it differently?

An M16 in a crowded bus.. highly grabbable!

Utterly pointless waste of life, if the man couldn't understand why the police let him go he should have looked at his own actions.

Guns are just too easily available in Philippines.

Actually the M16 rifle the shooter used is illegal for citizens to own in the Philippines. The following is a passage from Philippines Center on Transnational Crime in regards to the number and power of firearms a person may possess, I lifted the section on retired officers as this would be the most likely to apply even though he was technically fired.

Officers and non-commissioned police officers enlisted personnel in the active service and in the retired list of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) may hold under license a maximum of only one (1) low powered rifle caliber .22 or shotgun not heavier than 12 gauge and one (1) sidearm of any type or caliber.

http://www.pctc.gov.ph/laws/basicFA.htm

This was horribly mishandled. Why couldn't they just say "Okay, we understand, you can come back to work," and then arrest him once they'd confirmed the hostages were safe? Sure, it would have involved lying to the guy, but in a case like this I'd have thought it would be justified. Tragic.

12-hour hostage Flight from Hong Kong to Manila 2hrs

Should have send in the Counter Terrorism Response Unit of the Hong Kong Police Force.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo told dwIZ radio: "There was a television set inside the bus. "Unfortunately, Mendoza got a glimpse of what the police were up to. So we lost our element of surprise."

The claims of the media that people have 'the right to know' sure backfired on these people...

And guns are readily available in the Philippines, despite what the law says. Law-abiding people may follow it, but the hoodlums don't.

From AFP:

"...Commandos fired dozens of bullets into the bus and smashed its windows with sledgehammers as they tried to storm it, but were then forced to wait outside helplessly for over an hour as the hijacker used his captives as human shields.....Aquino acknowledged in a pre-dawn press conference that the tragedy highlighted many flaws in the ability of Philippine security forces to handle hostage situations.....One of the problems he emphasised was the way the crisis played out through the media, with the gunman allowed to speak on radio and watch events live on the bus's television, giving him insights into police actions..."

RIP everyone.

This is why a sniper should have been brought into begin with.

First clear shot = take him out. No negotiations.

A deceased "hostage taker" is always better than "possible" dead hostages.

Unwilling to believe that he one-sidedly shot the hostages. (Did some of the passengers try to jump him?)

Ballistics experts should be checking the bullets dispassionately to see who killed whom.

Looks like the RP police seriously bungled this.

Thanks to I had to watch this as Breaking News and LIVE, which both surprised me and made me think, what if the nut case on the bus with the M16 rifle can also be watching live coverage of how the police were trying to slowly enter from behind the bus?? Sadly enough, the nut case was watching this from a tv that the bus had for the passangers, and as JT wrongly reports, the police were not breaking the bus windows with HAMMERS, but with SLEDGE HAMMERS!! These are 2 completely different sized tools. I know the Philippines and by their standards they tried their best and only 9 were killed, it could have been a lot worse and have everyone involved killed. I feel sorry for the dead folk from Hong Kong, but if you go to a poor, 3rd world, corrupt basket case of a country, like the Philippines, do not be surprised by this kind of violence. A bus in a poor country, with huge Chinese kanjis, screaming, hey, were Chinese and look at all the money we have, any poor Filipino can use it as a soft target, and for hundreds of years, just like in the rest of Asia, Filipinos do not trust the Chinese, bad combination.

I know the Philippines and by their standards they tried their best

Their best was not nearly good enough