PNP crime lab: Not sure that Mendoza gun killed hostages

It is still premature to say that it was hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza's rifle that killed all eight Hong Kong tourists, who were among the busload of hostages caught in the middle of the Quirino Grandstand shootout last August 23. This is what an official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory told the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) on Wednesday, the fifth day of the marathon hearings on the Manila hostage tragedy. IIRC chair Justice Sec. Leila De Lima said that she issued a gag order on August 30 to prevent premature disclosures, such as PNP spokesman Agrimero Cruz Jr.'s earlier pronouncements that the victims were killed by bullets from Mendoza's M16 assault rifle. "I seem to remember that the spokesperson of the PNP made an announcement that your initial findings was that the shots were from Mendoza. That's the very reason why I gave that gag order," De Lima reminded Superintendent Emmanuel Aranas, the police crime lab’s assistant director for operations. De Lima then asked whether “we have sufficient proof" to establish that conclusion. Aranas explained that the initial ballistic tests were still inconclusive at that time. "When our deputy director said initially 58 shots were found to be from [Mendoza’s] firearm, this was an initial examination and it was not for media consumption," Aranas said, adding that the information was shared during a conference without the claim that it was a conclusion. An IIRC member later asked: "[So] we are not yet prepared to make the conclusion that the victims were shot by the firearm of Mendoza?" "Not yet, your honor," Aranas replied.
NBI findings on gunshots Earlier in the day, the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) medico-legal team presented its findings and said there are no indications that the victims were shot at close range. This is in contrast with bus driver Alberto Lubang's earlier testimony that Mendoza shot his victims point-blank, one by one. However, the NBI acknowledged that the results are still inconclusive. (See: NBI: No conclusion yet whether hostage victims shot at close range) The medico-legal report was among the findings presented by the NBI on Wednesday. The other presentations covered a recreation of the crime scene, bullet trajectory investigation, and bullet hole identification. NBI investigators counted a total of 41 bullet holes on the walls and windows of the bus. They also noted that the shooting was particularly concentrated at the door of the bus, which was riddled with 17 bullet holes. (See table.) NBI findings on bullet holes in the hijacked bus based on analysis of trajectories

	Total number of bullet holes	Fired from outside the bus	Fired from inside the bus
Whole bus	41	30	11
Left side of bus	9	7	2
Right side of bus	20	19	1
Front of bus	9	2	7
Rear of bus	3	1	2

Snipers In the morning of August 23, Mendoza hijacked a Hong Thai Travel bus, declared a hostage situation, and demanded his reinstatement in the police force. The standoff lasted for 11 hours and resulted in the deaths of eight tourists. Mendoza was also killed, supposedly by police snipers. During the ocular inspection of the bullet-riddled Hong Thai bus at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City also on Wednesday, however, IIRC co-chair and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said Mendoza may not have been killed by snipers as earlier claimed by the police. (See: After checking bus, Robredo says Mendoza may not have been killed by snipers) Robredo, apparently sharing the findings of forensic experts, said the trajectory of the bullets showed that the fatal wounds that killed Mendoza were caused by shots from the assault team and not by police sharpshooters positioned at some distance from the ill-fated tourist bus. When De Lima was asked by reporters how the snipers were positioned at the Quirino Grandstand, where the back part of the bus was facing during the shootout, she replied: "Hindi namin muna puwede sabihin kung nasan ang puwesto ng snipers (We’re not allowed to say for now where the snipers were positioned)." Pointing to bullet holes on the upper part of the bus, De Lima said: "Eto medyo intriguing. Malayo na iyan. Hindi iyan galing doon sa baba. (These ones are a bit intriguing. These came from a distance, not from a low position)." She added that the IIRC still has to check these details with the ballistics exam results, which it expects to receive by Friday, before declaring the findings as "conclusive and accurate." Why no blood splatters? Robredo said the probers are also trying to find out why there were no blood splatters inside the bus, adding that if Mendoza really used his M16 to shoot the victims, gunshots hitting their mark from this powerful rifle would have produced blood spatters. "But there were no blood spatters inside the bus," Robredo said. He also could not tell yet whether “friendly fire," or gunfire from the assault team, hit the eight hostages who were killed — a careful step back from the PNP spokesman's earlier remark that the fatalities were killed by Mendoza based on initial findings. De Lima said the probe body wants to determine the real causes of deaths and injuries of the victims, if Mendoza fired at his victims point-blank and if there were hostages who were hit in the crossfire during the police assault. “We are trying to be careful in attending (to) the findings," she said. "We have certain theories. But it's hard to state any specific conclusions. My conclusion may be different from those of the other members," De Lima said, showing reluctance to offer definite conclusions. The IIRC may question those who conducted the autopsy and consult with other experts if the panel is not “satisfied" with the explanation of PNP experts, she also said. The probe body also expects to integrate into its growing body of findings the statements that the NBI-DOJ team is currently getting from survivors of the hostage-taking who have returned to Hong Kong.—JMA/JV, GMANews.TV