Yebra: PNP was ready to grant hostage-taker's demand

During Monday's hostage crisis, the Philippine National Police (PNP) was apparently ready to grant the demand of the hostage-taker— that his police dismissal order be suspended— but unfortunately, the plan was not carried out in time to save all the hostages. "Allegedly sabi rin ng aking ground commander nag-agree sila na ibigay yun pero hindi na nakarating, hindi umabot (My ground commander had allegedly agreed to give the order but it did not get through," hostage negotiator Supt. Orlando Yebra said in an interview aired over GMA's Unang Hirit. The hostage-taker, Rolando Mendoza, was dismissed from police service due to charges of extortion and illegal arrest. He was likewise facing charges of misconduct at the Office of the Ombudsman. On Monday, he held hostage 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos on a bus, while demanding for his reinstatement and a review of his case. After the 11-hour hostage crisis, however, Mendoza and eight Hong Kong tourists were killed. Brother's fault Yebra blamed the hostage taker's brother SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza for the failure of negotiations as Gregorio's behavior reportedly agitated his brother. Yebra said they first spotted Gregorio when he attempted to approach the hijacked bus. When Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador frisked Gregorio, the police found that he was carrying a gun and disarmed him, Yebra said. At around 5:30 p.m., Yebra said he was ordered to bring Gregorio along with them when they take the Ombudsman's letter to Rolando, promising him a review of his case. "Sabi nila sa command post isama mo na yan para makatulong yan magkumbinsi sa kanyang kapatid (The command post told me to bring Gregorio along to help convince his brother to surrender)," he said. However, when Yebra gave Rolando the letter, the hostage-taker was not pleased with what he read. "After niya basahin, nagalit, [sabi niya] basura ito, hindi ito ang kailangan ko, ibalik ninyo iyan, niloloko ninyo ako galit na galit siya (After he read the letter, he was enraged, and said the letter was garbage, and that it was not what he needed, he said we were trying to dupe him)," said Yebra. Yebra added that he tried to appease Rolando by saying that he will try to convince his superiors to suspend his dismissal. He said the hostage-taker paused, thought about it for a while and said "pag-usapan natin mamaya (we can talk about it later)." "May indication, may pag-asa (There's hope)," Yebra supposedly told himself. However, Yebra said Gregorio suddenly butted in and told his brother "Tol pag hindi ibinalik ang baril ko, 'wag kang pumayag (Bro, if they don't return my gun, don't agree to their terms)." Yebra said Gregorio's words enraged Rolando once again. "Akala ko ba ibinigay na ninyo ang baril ng kapatid ko (I thought you already gave back the gun of my brother)," Yebra quoted the hostage-taker as saying. Brother's 'arrest' Yebra said he relayed everything that happened to the officials at the command post, which included Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and then ground commander Police Chief Supt. Rodolfo Magtibay. "Ni-report ko ngayon. Iba naman ang sinabi nito eh, imbes na makatulong, nadagdagan yung problema (I reported that Gregorio did not help in the negotiation at all. In fact, he made it worse)," he said. Yebra likewise told the officials that Gregorio should be charged for being an accessory to the crime. He also noted that Mayor Lim did not categorically order for the arrest of Gregorio – as Magtibay revealed during the Senate hearing on Thursday. "Nagsalita si Mayor Lim posasan yan, yun ang exact term (When Lim spoke, his exact words were to handcuff him)," he said. However, Yebra said that there were no handcuffs inside the command post during that time so they just asked Gregorio to sit in a corner while they discuss what to do in the situation. He added that Gregorio was escorted outside the command post without handcuffs and without being held by the police. After that however, Gregorio then caused a commotion, which allegedly agitated the hostage-taker and pushed him to fire his gun, he said. The negotiator noted, however, they were not lacking in their efforts although there might have been "little lapses" on their part. "Kung meron man at siguro maliliit na bagay (If there were mistakes, they were little things)," he said. He also asked the public to reserve their criticisms after a full report of what happened comes out. PNP's shortcomings Meanwhile, Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop said the Philippine National Police (PNP) was lacking in its command, control, negotiation, and assault tactics. "Kung titingnan po natin yung mga pangyayari, may mga lapses sa mga binanggit kong apat (If we look at what happened closely, the police committed lapses in those four aspects)," he said. He likewise said that those on the ground should have exercised the line of hierarchy of authority. "Pag nandun nandun yung ground commander eh, judgment call na yun kung iuutos niya yun... kung sinangguni niya yun sa crisis management team, yung head ang masusunod (If the ground commander is there, that's his call but if the crisis management team is consulted, its head will be followed)," he said. In preparation for similar incidents in the future, Acop said that the PNP should upgrade their equipment and tactical operations. He said the House of Representatives will look into how they can help the police achieve this. He noted, however, that they must first see the investigation report of the PNP before they make any recommendation. — LBG/VVP, GMANews.TV