Eight tourists, all from Hong Kong, were killed, along with the hostage-taker. He was identified as Rolando Mendoza, a 55-year-old officer who had been accused of robbery and extortion and was fired last year.
There were indications that Mr. Mendoza, who news reports said was armed with an M-16 assault rifle, was watching the live news broadcasts of the scene on a monitor inside the bus as it sat for hours, curtains drawn, at a major public plaza.
Throughout the day, the gunman wrote his demands for the return of his job and benefits on cardboard and pasted them on the windshield of the bus. One message read, “Big mistake to correct a big wrong decision.”
Late in the afternoon, he posted a message saying, “Media now,” apparently telling journalists to come to him. But by then the police prevented reporters from even getting near the bus.
At one point, the gunman’s brother complained to reporters near the scene that the police were threatening him; the cameras then showed him being detained by officers and shoved into a police car, his relatives wailing behind him. Shortly after, shots were heard from inside the bus.
Gunfire also broke out when the police tried to break the windshield and glass windows of the bus with sledgehammers. A bystander was hit in the leg by one of the bullets.
Mr. Mendoza gave an interview to Radio Mindanao Network, a Manila station, in which he admitted shooting two of the hostages and threatened to kill more.
“I shot two Chinese,” he told the station in Tagalog. “I will finish them all if they do not stop.”
The commandos struck after the bus driver jumped through a window and ran from the bus screaming, “Everybody is dead!”
The cameras captured the commandos, armed with rifles, surrounding the bus and opening an emergency exit, as emergency vehicles converged at the scene in heavy rain.
Police officers threw tear gas inside the bus, apparently forcing Mr. Mendoza to go near the bus’s main door, which they had torn down. Shots were heard and in a split second the body of a man — presumably Mr. Mendoza — was seen slumped by the door.
Several of the unharmed hostages, visibly shaken and some crying, were taken off the bus through the emergency exit.
President Benigno Aquino, in a news briefing around midnight, said Mr. Mendoza might have gained some advantage from the coverage. “To a certain extent, he may have had a bird’s eye view of the developments, which might not have helped,” the president said. The case captivated — and angered — Filipinos, with many blaming the news coverage for the disastrous end.
The chief executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang, called the case a “major tragedy,” and criticized the Filipino authorities. “The way it was handled, particularly the outcome, I find is disappointing,” Mr. Tsang said at a news conference in Hong Kong, Reuters reported.
But Mr. Aquino defended the actions of the authorities: “The idea was to let the ground commanders who are the experts in this field handle the operation with minimal interference from people who are less expert.”
The Chinese government has also demanded a thorough investigation of how the tragedy was handled.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino has promised to provide answers.
Questions have been raised over how police failed to enter the bus before eight tourists were shot by a rogue policeman.
The police commander in the Philippine capital of Manila, Leocadio Santiago, has defended the way his force dealt with the hostage-taking.
He told local television that it had been correct to let the siege continue until the bus driver escaped and reported that the hijacker had started shooting hostages.
Police then assaulted the bus, killing the hijacker, a disgruntled former policeman called Rolando Mendoza.
'Appalling'
In Hong Kong a "black" travel warning has been raised, which urges all travel to the Philippines to be cancelled and calls on Hong Kong people in the Philippines to leave as soon as possible.
Around Hong Kong, flags are hanging at half-mast. The stock exchange planned a minute's silence for the hijack victims.
Two planes, carrying doctors and counsellors, have been chartered to bring back the survivors of the incident.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi telephoned his Philippine counterpart Alberto Romulo to say China "was appalled" by the murders.
Rolando Mendoza: Hostage taker
· Joined Manila police force in 1981
· Promoted to head of Mobile Police Unit, and became senior inspector in 2005
· Accused of trying to extort money from a chef in 2008
· Dismissed from the police force in January 2010
"The Chinese government demands the Philippine government launch a thorough investigation into the incident and inform the Chinese side of related details as soon as possible," Mr Yang said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said China had already sent a team to Manila handle the aftermath.
"China has requested the Philippine side to take pragmatic measures to ensure life and property safety of Chinese nationals in the country," he said.
Hong Kong's chief executive, Donald Tsang, said he was disappointed with the handling of the incident.
.jpg)
