Society
Inquest into tragic Manila bus shooting starts in HK
By Joseph Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-02-15 08:00
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 A relative of a victim of the Manila bus hijacking arrives at the Coroner's Court in Hong Kong on Monday to listen to deliberations. [Photo/Chinese News Service]
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And he said he insisted that the post-mortem examination be carried out in Hong Kong because he had no confidence in the Philippines.
The coroner plans to hear from 150 witnesses - 34 from Hong Kong and 116 from the Philippines - but it is not yet known how many will testify.
The Hong Kong court has said people in the Philippines will be able to give their evidence via video hookup if they prefer.
In addition, 18 Philippine nationals, including police officers and the coach driver, have submitted written statements.
The Coroner's Court has set aside 25 days for the hearing, which formally started after a five-person jury was selected.
Coroner Michael Chan said at the start of the proceedings that the purpose of the hearing is to find out the cause of the deaths, but not who is liable.
He said anyone wanting to pursue liability would need to follow other channels.
All of the Hong Kong witnesses were represented by Coroner's Officer and Senior Counsel Jat Sew-tong, who was instructed by the Department of Justice.
Tse Che-kin is also represented by Senior Counsel Hector Pun, who is considering calling a ballistics expert to give evidence.
In presenting the case, Jat said the tour comprised 20 members and the tour guide Masa Tse. Six of the 20 left the coach before the shooting began and three of those are expected to testify.
Of the seven who survived the shooting, four are expected to give their accounts to the coroner.
"It will be agony for the surviving members to talk about what happened," Jat said. "But they are willing to do so for the sake of public interest."
Tse Che-kin, who was the first witness called, said he watched the TV coverage of the incident during the day and had arranged to fly to Manila at 1:30 am on Aug 24. Prior to boarding, he was informed by Hong Thai Travel Agency via the phone that his younger brother was dead.
When he arrived in the Manila hospital in the morning, he saw his brother's body. When asked why the post-mortem was not conducted there, he answered with tears in his eyes that he had no confidence in the local authorities.
"I was afraid they would handle the body badly and deface him," he said, wiping away tears.
Leung Kam-shing, the elder brother of Ken Leung Kam-wing, who was killed along with his daughters, Doris and Jessie, said he flew to Manila late at night on Aug 24.
A post-mortem was conducted on the three bodies in Manila and in Hong Kong, he said.
He told the court his sister-in-law had been distraught but was asked to sign a lot of documents in Manila, including the consent for the post-mortem.
"She was not fit to sign documents at that time," he said.
The statements of Loudres Amansec, assistant manager of the travel agency in Manila, coach driver Alberto Lubang and tour guide Diana Chan were also read out during the first day of the inquest.
According to Chan, the gunman, Rolando Mendoza, boarded their coach and took the group hostage but, she said, he initially did not seem to want to hurt the members of the tour and only wanted to be reinstated into the police force and get back his pension.
The hearing continues on Tuesday when other members of the tour are expected to take the stand along with two employees from the Hong Thai Travel Agency, who talked with Masa Tse on the phone before he died.
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