Journalists to face hostage probe committee

Four journalists are slated to face on Tuesday the Incident Investigation Review Committee (IIRC), the fact-finding body looking into the tragic hostage-taking in Manila on August 23. Those set to face the five-member panel are: TV5's Erwin Tulfo, Radyo Mo Nationwide (RMN) anchor Michael Rogas and spokesman Jake Maderazo, and GMA Network's Susan Enriquez. Over RMN last August 23, Tulfo and Rogas spoke with hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza at the height of the hostage-crisis -- from the time negotiations bogged down to the time the hijacker started his shooting rampage against his victims. The radio network was criticized for supposedly contributing to Mendoza's agitation and blocking the police's line of communication with the hostage-taker. Enriquez, for her part, was able to interview SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza, the hijacker's brother, while he was being arrested by the police and was supposedly making a scene. Eight Hong Kong tourists died in the bloodbath, while Mendoza was shot by government snipers. The Philippine Daily Inquirer had earlier published the transcript of Mendoza's interview with RMN. The transcript shed light on the hostage crisis' final hour — from Mendoza's repeated demand to get his job back to the time he fired the first bullets from his M-16 assault rifle. The events took a turn for the worse when Mendoza saw on the bus' television that his brother was being arrested. Mendoza said, "Ayan o, nakikita ko rito, nakaharap diyan sa TV. Ginagawa nilang baboy ’yang kapatid kong pulis. Walang kasalanan ’yan. Hindi niya alam ang pangyayari na ’to (There, I can see on TV what's going on. They're treating my policeman-brother like a pig. He’s innocent. He does not know about this incident)." The hostage-taker then warned that if the police would not let go of his brother he would start shooting all the hostages, one by one. The bus driver, Alberto Lubang, told RMN during the crisis that Mendoza was watching GMA News' coverage on a TV set in the bus. Lubang escaped through the bus window just after Mendoza fired his first shots. The presumption that Mendoza's anger was stoked by the live broadcast of his brother's arrest has prompted calls for a news blackout during hostage crises. Lubang is also set to testify before the IIRC on Tuesday. In the afternoon, the review committee will go the Quirino Grandstand and to the nearby police community precinct to inspect the area. The IIRC is composed of Department of Justice Sec. De Lima, Department of the Interior and Local Government Sec. Jesse Robredo, Filipino-Chinese community representative Teresita Ang-See of the Citizens Action Against Crime, legal community representative Roan Libarios of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and media representative Herman Basbano of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas. — RSJ, GMANews.TV