The brother of dismissed police Senior Inspector Ronaldo Mendoza was arrested for engaging the hostage-taker in a conversation, perceived by authorities as an "act of conspiracy," because he was not a part of the negotiating team.
Manila Police District head Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, who is currently on leave, made this clarification during a Senate committee hearing on Thursday.
Magtibay cleared up earlier reports that SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza was tapped to become part of the negotiating team during the 11-hour bus siege at Manila's Quirino Grandstand.
"Hindi po siya parte ng negotiating team. He was just allowed to escort Superintendent [Orlando] Yebra (one of the negotiators) to deliver the letter to Mendoza," said Magtibay, the overall ground commander during the negotiations, who filed a leave of absence amid international condemnation of the incident.
The letter from the Ombudsman stated that Rolando's demand to be reinstated to the police force would be considered after a review of his robbery-extortion case.
However, instead of just accompanying the negotiators, Gregorio ended up speaking with his brother and reportedly told him: "Tol, huwag ka muna pumayag hanggat 'di nila binabalik baril ko."
Gregorio's firearm was seized by authorities because people going near the bus were not allowed to bring one.
Magtibay said Yebra told him Gregorio could already be considered a "conspirator" for uttering that statement to his brother.
The MPD chief also said it was Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim who eventually ordered Gregorio arrested.
It was believed that Gregorio's arrest, seen by the Rolando on a television inside the bus, that "agitated" the hostage-taker and prompted him to fire shots.
As of this posting, Magtibay is still being questioned by lawmakers. –VVP
