Radio interview recordings and statements from a news anchor and on-scene reporter suggest that Manila hostage taker Rolando Mendoza's enraged outburst was caused by the arrest of his brother.

The court heard Thursday three clips of recordings of Mendoza talking to local radio anchorman on Aug 23, 2010, the day of the shootings.

When ex-policeman Mendoza first took the call from the anchorman at around 5 pm, he sounded calm as he explained reasons for his actions and read the letter from the Ombudsman on air.

As the conversation went on, he started to raise his voice and pace until he eventually hung up the phone in the midst of gunshots and screams.

Bus driver Alberto Lubang mentioned to the radio station the people on board the bus were watching live coverage of the incident on GMA Channel 7.

The evidence came in written statements from Michael Rogas, Radyo Mo Nationwide (RMN) anchor who talked to Mendoza on the telephone during the hostage crisis, and Erwin Tuffo, TV correspondent at the scene who joined the conversation later on.

The statements were submitted to the Coroner's Court, Thursday.

A video clip from the live broadcast presented to the court showed Mendoza's brother, police officer Gregorio Mendoza, being forcibly handcuffed and taken into a police car at around 7:20 pm.

The radio interview finished shortly after 7:30 pm when bullets had already been fired.

The recordings matched hostage crisis survivor Lee Ying-chuen's testimony Wednesday, who testified Thursday for a second day and listened through the recordings and videos.

She burst into tears several times when hearing the gunshots and people's screams.

Lee said she couldn't understand then what Mendoza had said during the interview as it was done mostly in Tagalog, the local language. Nor could she see or hear what was on TV at the time as she was hiding in the back seats.

Lee, one of the 13 survivors of the hostage ordeal that claimed the lives of eight Hong Kong tourists, described to the court that she could see Mendoza turning his head towards the television around the time his brother was arrested.

At that time, she said, Mendoza was still grabbing for the phone. Shortly after that, tour leader Masa Tse Ting-chun was shot down while handcuffed to the front door.

Lee told the court policemen came to the bus more than half an hour after Tse's death and twice threw tear gas into the bus.

"The second time my tears were bursting out heavily and I couldn't stop coughing loudly. I felt I was about to die," Lee said.

Lee said she saw fellow tourist Chan Kwok-chu jump out the bus first and that her mother followed after somebody said "moving".

"I was so scared that my mom could become the next target because I didn't know whether the gunman was still at large," she recalled. "I tried to stop her but she didn't hear me."

Lee crawled out of the bus in a minute after waiting for the police to come to rescue in vain. She was first taken to an ambulance where there was no medicine or first-aid equipment.

Later she reunited with her mother and fellow tourist Chan in another car. She said she could still hear gunshots.

She said she had no idea at that time whether Mendoza was dead or alive.

Mendoza has allowed RMN's anchorman Rogas to interview the driver.

Later, TV correspondent Tuffo interviewed one of the Hong Kong hostages, Yeung Yee-wa, who died later.

During the interviews, RMN tried many times to contact General Magtibay and other Manila Police Department officers, only to no avail.

The RMN statement said that Tuffo tried to convince police not to arrest Mendoza's brother but his suggestion was ignored.

His request to take a cameraman into the bus was also rejected by the police, even though Mendoza had agreed on condition that Tuffo would be handcuffed first before release.

China Daily

(HK Edition 02/18/2011 page1)