Here is the sequence of events that led to a bloodbath in Monday’s Rizal Park hostage saga. The times are approximations based on interviews with the police, witnesses and relatives of hostages, compiled by the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
8 a.m. Driver Alberto Lubang, on board Hong Thai Travel bus, with plate No. TWU-799, fetches Hong Kong residents from Manila Pavilion hotel, where they are billeted, and drops them off at Intramuros. They are on the last day of their group tour.
The Hong Kong tourists roam around to take pictures, see the sights.
9 a.m. Lubang fetches the tourists from the agreed meeting place outside the Manila Cathedral.
9:30 a.m. The tourists board the bus. Lubang notices former Senior Insp. Rolando Mendoza in a police uniform and armed with an M-16 rifle, watching them.
When everybody is inside and the bus is about to leave, Mendoza approaches and asks where they are headed. Lubang says they are going to the airport and Mendoza asks for a ride. Lubang lets him board.
9:45 a.m. Upon reaching Rizal Park, Mendoza tells the driver and passengers: “Sorry, you’re my hostages now.” Lubang thinks he’s kidding.
Mendoza asks the driver to turn toward Quirino Grandstand.
The bus reaches Quirino Grandstand. A parking attendant approaches to ask for the P60 parking fee. On seeing Mendoza’s rifle, the attendant runs.
Mendoza calls his colleagues at the Manila Police District to inform them of what he has done.
An elderly passenger on the bus complains of loose bowel movement and is allowed to leave with tour guide Diana Chan.
Negotiations begin
10:30 a.m. Police arrive. Negotiations led by Supt. Orlando Yebra and Chief Insp. Romeo Salvador begin.
Mendoza posts hand-written messages on the window indicating his demands, including the case numbers of his cases with the Office of the Ombudsman.
12:10 p.m. Four hostages are released—three children aged 4, 10 and 12, and the 39-year-old mother of two of them.
1:15 p.m. Wang Ben, Chinese police attaché in the Philippines, arrives.
1:20 p.m. Negotiators agree to refuel the bus’ diesel tank. Later, a van also approaches the bus. Two men alight from the van and hand over to a negotiator packed lunch and bottles of water for the hostages.
1:24 p.m. Mendoza opens the bus door and frees Lee See Kyu after the 70-year-old tourist asks to be allowed to go so he can have his medication for diabetes.
Police say force will only be used as a last resort.
Filipino hostages freed
1:30 p.m. Two Filipino hostages are released. Mendoza sets a 3 p.m. “deadline” for the negotiations.
2:14 p.m. A man in white shirt and short pants is seen walking toward the bus. Salvador, deputy negotiator, disarms him of a handgun. The man is identified as SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza, the hostage-taker’s brother.
2:25 p.m. Gregorio is allowed to step out of the nearby police precinct where he is being held. He tells the media he merely wants to help in the negotiations and that his brother wants to relay his demands through him.
2:30 p.m. Mendoza’s other relatives, among them younger brother Florencio, arrive. The hostage-taker’s wife, Aurora, appears but begs off interviews.
3:05 p.m. Gregorio and a colleague, SPO4 Robert Agojo, ask Mendoza to extend his 3 p.m. “deadline.” The dismissed police officer gives them 30 minutes to ask the authorities to act on his demands.
3:14 p.m. A Philippine National Red Cross team brings a freed female hostage to an undisclosed facility.
Poised for assault
3:30 p.m. Cigarette-puffing Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno leaves the police precinct, holding a folder of documents.
4 p.m. About 20 fully-armed SWAT operatives take their positions near the bus as if preparing for a possible assault or rescue.
4:15 p.m. Senior government officials, among them Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, arrive.
6:15 p.m. Negotiation appears to break down. Mendoza fires warning shot at Yebra and Salvador.
6:40 p.m. Gregorio scampers out of the police precinct, claims his superiors have ordered him arrested. His brother Florencio and other relatives embrace Gregorio to stop SWAT agents from arresting him.
Mendoza’s warning
6:50 p.m. Mendoza warns negotiators he will do something drastic.
6:55 p.m. Gregorio is arrested and handcuffed as accessory to the crime.
7:10 p.m. SWAT members, some wearing bull caps, approach the bus from the rear. A policeman using a sledgehammer tries to smash the bus’ glass windows. Heavy downpour falls.
7:15 p.m. Mendoza gets angry after seeing his brother getting arrested on a TV monitor. He threatens to kill the hostages.
The SWAT surrounds the bus. Snipers are placed in strategic areas in the vicinity but can’t get a clear shot of Mendoza.
A body is seen slumped on the floor, blocking the door, which opens inside.
7:20 p.m. At the center of the bus, Mendoza is seen lying on his stomach with a gun pointed to the rear of the bus. He uses two inert bodies as a shield.
7:23 p.m. Mendoza apparently starts firing at hostages.
Driver escapes
7:30 - 7:45 p.m. Driver Lubang escapes by jumping through the window. He runs away, shouting, “Pinatay na lahat iyong mga hostage (All the hostages have been killed).”
SWAT member PO1 Allan Dy slips into the bus through a rear door. Mendoza shoots him. The bullet hits Dy on the head, but he is wearing a Kevlar helmet and is not injured.
The assault team retreats and regroups.
8:19 p.m. Mendoza unleashes bursts of gunfire for several minutes. A teenager is hit by a stray bullet in the thigh.
Shot by sniper
8:30 p.m. Tear gas canister is thrown in. Mendoza gets up from his position and moves to the door.
8:44 p.m. A sniper shoots him through a crack in the door, hitting him in the head. The bullet exits through the back of his head.
8:45 p.m. Police declare crisis is over. Rescue ambulances arrive.
9:05 p.m. Mendoza’s body is loaded onto an ambulance.
By DJ Yap, Marlon Ramos, Jeannette Andrade
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