NBI to invite hostage-taker's kin for questioning

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) sent a team to Batangas province to invite for questioning a relative of Rolando Mendoza, the dismissed police inspector who held 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos hostage on Monday. Radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported on Friday that the team will invite a female relative of Mendoza, who reportedly drove him to Manila on the day of the hostage-taking. NBI spokesman Cecilio Zamora said the female relative reportedly drove Mendoza from Tanauan City, Batangas to Intramuros, Manila early on Monday. Initial investigation had showed that Mendoza hitched a ride on the bus carrying 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos. However, he held the passengers hostage when the bus reached the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. The hostage drama turned bloody when the hostage-taker reportedly became angry after seeing his brother being arrested on a live television broadcast of the incident. The bus driver escaped and shouted as he ran that everyone on the bus was already dead. It was then that the police launched an assault on the bus. At the end of the 11-hour confrontation, Mendoza and eight tourists were killed. Meanwhile, Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa personally inspected the bus that figured in the incident. The bus was removed from the Quirino Grandstand and towed to the Logistics Support Service Command in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City on Wednesday. –VVP, GMANews.TV