Official denies extort try on Manila hostage-taker

An Office of the Ombudsman official on Sunday denied extorting P150,000 from Rolando Mendoza, the dismissed policeman who took a busload of foreign tourists hostage in Manila last August 23 to demand his reinstatement to the police force. In an exclusive interview by GMA News reporter Mariz Umali aired over “24 Oras" on Sunday, Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzales III, however, confirmed that Mendoza, who was killed by policemen after negotiations failed, was accusing him of extortion when they talked over the phone during the hostage crisis. “Ang sinasabi niya sa akin, ‘Nanghihingi ka sa akin ng P150,000?’ Sabi ko sa kanya, ‘Hindi totoo yan, hindi nga tayo magkakilala, hindi tayo nagkikita.’ Sabi niya, ‘Sini-setup niyo ako’," said Gonzales, the deputy Ombudsman for military and other law enforcement offices. (He told me, ‘You’re asking for P150,000?’ I told him ‘That’s not true. I don’t even know you and I have never seen you.’ Then he said, ‘You are all setting me up.’) The information that Mendoza was accusing an Ombudsman official of extortion before he was killed was relayed on Saturday by Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador, one of the negotiators, to the government body formed to investigate the tragedy. Gonzales is scheduled to appear before the panel — the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) — on the third day of its investigation on Monday.

But contrary to Salvador’s claim, Gonzales said Mendoza, a decorated officer before he was dismissed from police service over a robbery-extortion case, never mouthed expletives at him. “Hindi naman siya nagmumura. Hindi ko alam kung saan nanggaling ‘yun (He didn’t curse me. I don’t know where that news came from)," he said. He said he and Mendoza only talked briefly, after which Mendoza asked to speak with Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez herself. He said Mendoza was asking him to dismiss his case now pending with the Ombudsman. “Ang gusto niya, maglabas ako ng resolution sa motion niya on that date, granting the motion. When you say granting the motion, acquitted siya (What he wanted was for me to issue a resolution to grant his motion that day. In short he wanted to be acquitted)," said Gonzales. In the same interview, Gonzales said he is frustrated that he is being dragged into the controversy considering his years of service in the government. “Ang iniimbestigahan naman diyan, yung hindi pagkaka-rescue sa hostages (What is supposed to be investigated here is the failure to rescue the hostages)," he said. “Bakit naman napatuon sa akin? Ang feeling ko nga ‘nun napasama pa ako, after doing my job (Why was the probe suddenly focused on me? I feel that I have compromised myself after doing my job)," he added. He likewise admitted that his family has been negatively affected by the controversy. “My children, my family, they're shattered about this." Asked if he is willing to be investigated on the matter, Gonzales retorted, “Bakit naman ako iimbestigahan, wala naman akong kasalanan diyan (Why should I be investigated? I am innocent of the accusation?)" - KBK, GMANews.TV