Bus driver: Hostage taker blew top upon seeing brother's arrest

The driver of the ill-fated tourist bus, Alberto Lubang, testified on Tuesday that hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza became incensed when he saw his brother being arrested on live television. A few minutes later, Mendoza started shooting the hostages. While he was witnessing the arrest of his brother Gregorio, Mendoza was also speaking with someone on a mobile phone in an increasingly agitated tone, according to Lubang "Noong alas-sais, naka-on na ba ang TV? (Was the TV on at 6:00 p.m.?)," asked Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, chair of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) probing the August 23 hostage massacre. "Opo, naka-on na po (Yes, the TV was on)," replied Lubang. He had earlier said that the TV in the bus was showing GMA-7's coverage of the event. "May nakita? (What did he see?)" asked De Lima. Lubang replied: "Sa pagkakaka-alam ko po, iyong kapatid niya, inaaresto. Pag tumitingala ako, nakikita ko. (As far as I know, his brother was being arrested. Whenever I looked up, I saw it.)" De Lima asked: "So noong sumisigaw siya (Mendoza) na pakawalan niyo iyan (brother), iyon yung hinuhuli siya? (When he was shouting that his brother be released, was it during that time that his brother was being arrested?)" "Opo, maraming beses po (Yes, several times)," Lubang replied. "Alam niyo kung sino ang kausap? (Do you know the person to whom he was speaking?)" De Lima asked. Lubang replied: "Hindi ko po alam, ang sabi pakawalan niyo iyan. Kung hindi, uubusin ko na ito, papatayin ko na lahat ng ito. (I don't know. He was saying that his brother should be released if not he will kill everyone.)" "Basta ang narinig ko, 'Pag di niyo papakawalan yan, papatayin ko na ito.' Nasa likod po siya (Mendoza) ng bus, (I just heard him saying if you will not release him, I will kill these people)," Lubang later added. Mendoza wanted to watch the news Lubang testified that Mendoza ordered him to turn on the TV at 3:00 p.m. and after watching a news report about his crime told the driver to turn it off at 4:00 p.m. Lubang had been handcuffed to the steering wheel for several hours. De Lima asked Lubang, "Noong mga oras na iyon naka-bukas na po ba ang TV? Mga alas-singko nakabukas na? Kailan nabuksan ang TV?" (During that time, was the TV on? At around 5:00 p.m., was it on? When was the TV turned on?) Lubang replied: "Noong mga alas-tres po pinabuksan na niya iyon. (At around 3:00 p.m., he asked for the TV to be turned on.)" "Ano'ng channel po? (What channel?)," De Lima asked. "Channel 7 po," Lubang replied. –VVP/HS, GMANews.TV