Hong Kong Tourists Trapped In Bus With Unhinged Man Who Tries To Kill Them One By One

this is taking place in Manila in the. Philippines Mrs Lee is a tourist from. Hong Kong she gets off the tour bus and. she's kind of holding her hand to her. stomach so she was with this huge tour. van and they're going from tourist. attraction to tourist attraction they. get off the bus they look around take. some pictures get back on the bus now. all day she'd been feeling so queasy she. just wants to like throw up and she. finally convinces the bus controller to.

let her off to get some fresh air she. had been with the same group for several. days now and they were on their final. stop their last stop their final. destination in the Philippines before. heading back home she and her husband Mr. Lee they always really like the. Philippines so to give you some context. they were actually here in the. Philippines 40 years ago for their. honeymoon and now they were Back 40. years later and they were part of this. tour group this trip was bringing back a. ton of memories especially as they would. watch the younger couples get onto the. bus they're like oh my God that used to.

be us for you years ago we used to have. that much energy they would see all the. little kids getting on the bus and they. would think of their kids when they were. so young and it was just kind of like. this this wholesome moment. so 40 years ago that means they're in. like 60s yeah they're they're a little. older they're one of the older couples. on this bus but they were still kicking. with a lot of energy okay. they're having a blast but she steps out. of the bus it's August it's hot humid. the Manila air is suffocating she takes.

one step. she hears the bus doors closed behind. her she doesn't look back. she takes another step away from the bus. two steps three steps and after a little. while she felt two people grab her by. the arms on both sides of her she's. screaming at the two men that dragged. her into the crowd please you have to. let me get on that bus my husband is on. that bus now. the two people that have been dragging. her into the crowd were police officers. they were hostage negotiators the crowd.

was filled with other officers federal. agents government officials journalists. reporters news stations civilians there. was a massive Circle just surrounding. this bus and inside was Mr Lee Mrs Lee's. husband but also a bunch of innocent. tourist passengers and an unhinged. gunman. she was let out in the middle of a. hostage situation there was no way that. the officers were going to let her get. back on that bus.

she was lucky to even be let out she. said that she had a stomach ache the bus. controller the hostage taker let her out. for a second and now. that's it she was not going to be. rejoining her husband on that bus and. she was very lucky I mean many of the. passengers many of the innocent tourists. I mean everyone on that bus they're. innocent they did not ask for anything. like this and they would end up dying on. that bus. this is the story of the Manila bus. hijacking and there are so many wild. Parts about this case I mean the fact.

that it happened in general is wild the. way the negotiations were handled is. mind-boggling and lastly even afterwards. when a full-scale diplomatic relations. disaster is taking place many netizens. would sympathize with the Killer. yeah some said that the killer was. innocent some said that he was also a. victim why would they even think that. and just the way that this hostage. negotiation takes place usually I I feel. like a lot of tension when I talk about. hostage negotiations this one's even.

weirder because everyone is crowding. around the bus there's like no. established perimeter. so the bus is just in the middle of a. very busy area and there's civilians. journalists just all around the bus like. there's no tapes and fence but inside. the bus is just an utter chaos. [Music].

thank you. so as always full show notes are. available at rottenminglepodcast.com. this has been a highly requested case. and our Filipino researcher has been. working really hard to assist in putting. the story together for you guys but as. always with foreign cases if there's. anything that was missed something else. you want covered something Lost in. Translation let us know in the comments. and with that being said let's get into. it which side note if you're researching.

this I just want to put a quick. disclaimer that um the crime scene. photos are very very easy to pop up like. if you go to Google Images it's. incredibly graphic and it's right there. I mean so please be aware of that if you. are a little bit queasy it's really bad. now there was another woman on that bus. and her name is Mrs Yik Yik now when her. son was young she said the hardest part. was her son could not look her in the. face I mean he was terrified of her face.

she almost always exclusively wore a. face mask around her kids because. whenever they would see her bare face. they would get scared. she said that she's had 30 operations. she is more scheduled but nothing seems. to work. there's a hole on the right side of her. jaw where saliva and pus will often leak. out. that's where she was shot and she would. feel the rush of adrenaline and the. trauma that was just compiling back to. her the feeling of being shot but.

pretending to play dead so that she. could make it back home to her family. she would have flashbacks to when she. was back on that bus. her only comfort in life was that as her. son started to grow up he had actually. sat her down one day and said Mom that's. okay I know that you went on a tour for. vacation and you were shot by a really. bad person it was a very very bad person. but what she and the others did not know. at the time was that there was more than. one bad person at the scene that day. according to the United States.

Department of Justice hostage takers can. be grouped into three vague categories. so apparently when you get into the. categories there are subcategories. within and then you even can distinguish. each hostage taker by their negotiation. tactic are they avoidant negotiators are. they accommodating negotiators so this. is really just a general vague idea for. the three categories the first one. professional criminals these are. typically the easiest to handle for the. police they want a plea deal they want. money they want it out their motivations. are rather clear and as long as.

everyone's interests are aligned it's. almost like a business transaction and. like I said this category can further be. distinguished by a fleeing Crim criminal. who got stuck in a hostage situation and. now the hostages are his only bargaining. trip and they're trying to get their way. out of the crime maybe it's an. institutionalized or incarcerated person. right so there's subcategories. the second vague category is the. terrorist groups these are kind of. harder to deal with in terms of Hostage. situations typically their total.

dedication to their cause and their high. level of skill in promoting their. ideologies it makes them very. unreasonable it makes them unpredictable. and that is the most dangerous thing in. a hostage situation is an unpredictable. hostage taker they're willing to go to. extremes to prove a point that most. people may not be able to resonate with. then lastly you have the quote. psychotics these are for a lack of a. better word the unhinged hostage takers. they're even more unpredictable.

typically they require a lot of lengthy. extensive involvement with psychologists. or psychiatrists with the hostage. negotiators their emotions are unstable. they can quickly very quickly become. trigger happy because you don't really. know going and what their motivation is. many would argue that the killer in. today's case would fit into the last. category on changed and unpredictable. the tour group was loading up for the. last leg of their trip the bus driver. was blasting the AC because like I said. it's hot humid and sticky like the.

trifecta of a tropical climate and the. driver never really interacted with the. passengers much because he is a Filipino. and all the passengers they don't speak. Tagalog but he was hired by the tour. company to drive them from different. tourist sites in Manila so he was with. them for multiple days and anytime the. tourists would board the bus or get off. they would greet him they would thank. him for his you know chauffeuring and. they all had like a nice pleasant. relationship now all they needed to do. was a quick head count and they would be.

off to their very last location it's. almost like a Bittersweet moment you. know inside the bus there were 20. tourists mostly from Hong Kong in. varying ages so you've got young. children to older vacationers like the. Lee family and then Additionally you had. a tour guide from Hong Kong and four. Filipino citizens including the bus. driver okay so you have 25 people okay. and then there was a man outside now the. vacationers had passed by him to board. the bus it almost looked like he was. guarding the bus it was kind of. interesting there was nothing about him.

though that was alarming or unsettling. in any way most of them believed him to. be some sort of security he was wearing. a police uniform holding a rifle now it. didn't seem that out of place in Manila. so they're like okay like maybe he's. escorting us to the last location maybe. the last location is a little bit more. well protected well surveillanced I. don't know it was a little unexpected. but it's not like oh what is that guy. doing here even the bus driver seemed. chill. so he looks like a cop yeah so the Last.

Passenger gets onto the bus and the man. outside that's very clearly heavily. armed stood in the doorway preventing. the door from closing and he asked the. bus driver can I have a ride now the. driver is feeling sympathy it's very hot. day outside but he's like I gotta. politely decline like I'm sorry I'm. driving a privately owned bus it's not. like a city bus or at Metro so my bosses. would they would fire me if I just let. like random people ride I'm so sorry. so he tries to close the door but the. man stood there and refused to move he.

won't let the door close. so everyone's kind of like what's going. on because everyone can hear the door. trying to close and he's blocking it and. everyone just kind of goes silent like. this is weird so then he steps into the. bus and he says close the door. so the bus driver closes the door. because he's looking at his rifle he's. like I'm not gonna not listen to this. man and effectively he's locking all 25. of them with an unhinged man with a. loaded gun inside the bus the man starts. kind of screaming at the passengers. close the blinds everyone closed the.

blinds. the local guide that had been helping. translate to the group translated. everything that the man was yelling to. the group and for a split moment I mean. everyone was so shocked that they didn't. even move the parents snapped out of it. for the sake of their kids and maybe if. we do everything we're told he's not. gonna hurt us or at least he won't hurt. the kids right so they're scrambling. they're closing the curtains and the. blinds on this bus and once they were. done it's just utter silence. anticipation of like what is going to. happen next.

everyone's minds are racing on possible. outcomes people noticed a couple of. things that they pointed out later the. first being that when he was screaming. close the blinds close the blinds. something about it was very rehearsed. but it didn't have the power in his. chest it didn't seem like he was a. seasoned criminal that he did this. frequently it felt like this he was. almost nervous for this. um. okay whether that's a good thing or a. bad thing because nerves are a very. explosive emotion as well so everyone's. going running through the possible. outcomes of a situation like this and I.

think many of them felt the tiniest bit. of relief when the armed man started. apologizing to everyone he kept saying. he was sorry he kept telling the. translator I never wanted to do this to. them just make sure they know I don't. want to do this to them I just need the. police to listen to me. to listen to what happened to me look I. don't want to hurt anyone here as long. as everyone cooperates everything's. gonna be okay so the translator lets the. passengers know what's going on and the. gunman would occasionally even smile at. the group like not a big unhinged like.

smile but like a very like like sorry. kind of smile he seemed polite and. whenever people seemed to get anxious he. would reassure everyone he would tell. the translator hey tell them I have no. intention of hurting them so like just. calm down we're gonna be okay. okay so again it's like maybe this is. and you have to think that these are. people from Hong Kong they might have. assumed that this is some sort of attack. because of where they're from because of. who they are it's a tourist bus I mean. it's very random so he's like it's not. about you guys trust me it's just I'm.

sorry it had to be you one Taurus would. even later say after we heard his. explanation about just wanting to get. the police's attention we didn't really. think we were in danger I mean it's not. like he was demanding a billion dollars. from the cops in a pet unicorn he just. said he wanted the police to hear him. out that's it I felt like everything. could be very easily solved but. unfortunately not everyone was going to. get out alive. the armed man instructed the bus driver. to take everyone to a very famous part. of Manila the grandstand this is where.

Filipino presidents get inaugurated. yeah the bus driver was instructed to. park just in the middle of the road. leading up to it and from there in front. of civilians reporters news anchors. Police federal agents they would be held. hostage it looked straight out of a. movie set if you see pictures of the. crime scene there's like a bus there's. not really an established perimeter like. a piece of tape or anything but people. are keeping somewhat of a distance and. it's just a crowd of people around and. it looks like a movie set. people are just recording inside the.

boxing yeah. imagine being held hostage in a bus with. an armed man and if you just peek. outside the window you can see a whole. crowd of people forming and they all. know what's going on inside that bus. they know you can't leave the bus but. that's dangerous too yes she can easily. fire out yeah. you hope that these people standing. outside watching are trying to help you. from the outside but from inside the bus. there's not much that you can do you're. trapped you're literally center stage. and you know that everyone outside the.

bus is staring into you thinking the. same exact thing which is will they live. or will they die. and what year was this 2010 and at the. end of the 11th Hour. people will die. so start the clocks. the bus driver parked the bus and he. kept it running they needed the AC right. now it's about 9 50 a.m and the weather. is only going to get hotter throughout. the day meanwhile the tourists are all. kind of glancing around at each other. and they're probably taking inventory of.

who's by the exits what do we need to. help in escaping the children the. elderly they're going to need some. assistance some of the kids would start. crying and their parents were. frantically trying to hush them because. even though they felt somewhat relief. that this guy wasn't completely unhinged. they felt like they didn't know if any. sound or any noise like crying would. trigger this man you don't know truly. the mental state of anyone he had way. too many weapons to take that kind of. risk so they all just sat there eyes.

wide and they start watching this man. continuing to arm himself further he. pulled out more guns boxes upon boxes of. ammo the ones on the bus who knew guns. would know that he's holding an M16. assault rifle it had a firing rate of 45. to 60 rounds on a semi-automatic model. and close to to 1 000 rounds per minute. on a cyclic sustained model you had all. that on him yes if this man becomes. trigger happy it is all over for them. like just the firing rate of that rifle.

is honestly insane hour one the man. walks over to the bus driver and. handcuffs him to the steering wheel the. Hong Kong tour office is informed that. the tourists have been taken as hostages. authorities are informed and they rush. to the scene but they keep their. distance so as of now all they know is. that everyone inside that bus is still. alive now it's up to the hostage. negotiators to keep it that way that's. their whole job. so two of the negotiators they arrive. promptly to the scene we've got. superintendent Orlando Yerba and Chief.

Inspector Romeo Salvador they were able. to get the bus driver's phone number and. through that the negotiators asked to. speak with the hostage taker himself and. they even actually approached the bus. and that's when it all clicked why this. man was doing this who he was one of the. negotiators Salvador he stood there. staring and he said the hostage taker. that's an old colleague of mine. he's a former police officer they know.

each other yes this man the hostage. taker was one of the top police officers. in the nation what the hell was he doing. the demand was quite simple he said I'm. gonna let everyone go if I can just have. my old job back he wanted to be a police. officer again he had been let go of and. now he wants it back listen not a great. way to apply for a job if you ask me the. hostage taker is a man named Rolando. Mendoza he was 55 years old at the time. of the incident and he was a former.

police senior inspector he was well. respected highly decorated his. colleagues family friends I mean nobody. that knew him had anything bad to say. about him everyone said he's the kind of. police officer that you would want. working on your case or even like. pulling you over he was kind he's a very. fair man with a very generous heart I. just he's one of the good ones and he. was incredibly intelligent he got his. bachelor's in criminology from the. Philippine College of criminology he. received about 10 outstanding policemen.

of the Philippines Awards I mean he was. really really good at his job in fact. being a police officer it kind of ran in. his family so his brother was on the. police force Mendoza's nephew would also. follow along in the family footsteps and. alongside Mendoza's very prosperous. career he had a wife three children that. were now adults at the time of the. hijacking and his youngest son would. actually be a deputy chief officer in a. different police force like they're all. cops currently yeah pretty much they're. like all cops except for Mendoza because.

he's fired fired a year before this. hostage taking he was let go one year. ago so the whole thing was around the. time of the bus hostage taking he was. gonna retire that was his plan he was. going to retire from the police force in. about a year and since he was such a. highly valued official that worked for. the government he was eligible for a. very comfortable pension look it's not. like winning the lottery but it would be. a very good living and he would be. comfortable for the remainder of his. life however this would all change when. Mendoza and four of his colleagues were.

fired from the police force and stripped. of all their benefits current and future. like pension gone and it all began in. 2008 with a viral email the email was. viewed millions of times by netizens who. were enraged they wanted action they. wanted answers they wanted someone to. pay they wanted someone to go down and. they were not going to stop until. someone was on the ground so two years. ago Mendoza and his team of officers. arrested a man named Christian Cola for.

illegal part talking and driving. upon his release Christian's dad sent. out an email blast to every Outlet. reporter journalist that he could think. of to share this information with and he. said the most horrible thing had. happened to his son while he was. detained by the police officers. according to Christian he went to his. cousins to pick up his laptop so he. parked in front of his cousin's Condo. building and he's just gonna run inside. and grab his belongings but when he gets. back to his car he said that according. to the email there was a whole team of. policemen just waiting by his car hey.

this is a No Parking Zone Christian's. looking around like okay if that's the. case why are there so many other cars. parked here it's alleged that the police. did not listen to his response and they. just demanded that he pop open his trunk. they wanted to search his vehicle and. he's like well if you want to search my. vehicle then you can get a search. warrant. it stated that Christian refused but the. situation escalated to the point where. he was quote forced to obey the officers. search inside of his car and allegedly. pocket 3 000 pesos that was inside so. about 55 and then the officer noticed.

that the plastic ends of a spark plug. were left in the trunk and they picked. it up and they were like aha. paraphernalia. and he's like that is not no that's the. opposite what are you talking about but. to further bolster their own Theory. officers found like nearby empty sachets. of um Shabu like seasoning I guess in. the vehicle and they started screaming. at each other that they found so like. it's drugs. he's like what are you talking about.

he was arrested at 10 30 in the morning. now this is where things get wild in the. email and very very scary according to. the email the police did not drive. Christian to the police station or even. to the jail they drove him to an ATM and. demanded he withdraw every single penny. inside of his account Christian. thankfully did not have any money in his. ATM card so they left with no cash and. they went back to the police. headquarters the whole time Christian. said he's just trying to explain to them. I did nothing wrong those aren't even. what are you talking about like please. do a drug test on me if you don't.

believe me do a drug test like I work at. the Mandarin Hotel there is no way they. do constant drug tests I'm a chef there. there's no way that I would be able to. do drugs and get away with it like trust. me you can call my employer get my. recent results or do one right now. the email alleged that the police. officers ignored him instead they. grabbed a baggie of amphetamines that. they personally had and tried to get him. to swallow it. the email stated Christian refused for. as long as he could but they beat him so. badly that he wet his pants from the.

utter fear. Christian had no choice but to give in. and he swallowed them. according to the email allegedly the. cops said well now we're gonna see if. you test negative now again back to the. email Christian was said to have been. kept by the police for a full 12 hours. being straight up abused and extorted by. the police officers they would say. things to him like you need to pay us. three thousand six hundred dollars in. order to be let go. the email stated Christian was allowed. one phone call so he reached out to his. friend asking to bring any sort of cash.

that he could have and Christian would. pay him back they bought 400 in cash and. it was enough for the dirty cops. they let Christian go. Christian called his parents the next. day and his dad was so enraged so upset. that he wrote this email trying to draw. attention to what is going on in their. country to the cops that did this to his. precious son the captain of the group. was named in the email as Mendoza when. netizens read this email there was this. anger that was unlocked from within not. only because the email itself was so. explosive and scandalous but the.

allegations were really freaking bad. this type of thing was happening to. Filipinos everywhere though so much so. that there's even a name for it called. hulidop Huli means arrest and Dopp is. like slang for hold up or a stick up so. it's like when cops arrest you and are. like I'm Gonna Let You Go if you pay me. it's like a fake arrest just so that. they can get money basically extortion. from innocent civilians so this email. blows up everyone starts referring to. the Shady cops as quote manila's finest. and public pressure forces officials to.

at least investigate the police force. found Christian and convinced him to. file an official Complaint and press. charges against the offending officers. all of the that sounds normal right I. mean I could see this play out in the us. too but there's a few strange things. about this case. it took Christian seven weeks to be. convinced by authorities to file charges. and you could argue that he didn't want. to live through the trauma that would be. this trial but it gets weirder stories. start twisting and turning Christian's. official affidavit that was done after.

the email blast and after he was finally. convinced to press charges the affidavit. was very different from the original. email the email was violent abuse at the. hands of cops the original affidavit was. more or less standard arrest with a few. minor that's a bit Shady moments there. was not a single accusation of physical. abuse physical threatening or myth in. the official affidavit. in addition to that there was a record. of the police bringing Christian in for. a medical exam at the local hospital the.

day of his arrest towards the end like. at the end of the night so after he. allegedly spent all day being physically. abused by the police he was brought into. the hospital the doctor did not find any. apparent physical injuries. all very strange right so the public was. split in two different groups one was. saying of course Christian would not say. that in the official affidavit because. he's scared he's probably being. pressured by the cops right now guess. who's investigating the cops the cops so. yeah I could see that the doctor is.

probably in on it you think the police. just go to any random doctor they're. probably go to ones that they can trust. especially if they've done something. this is all a massive cover-up. then you had another group of netizens. saying I don't know I think the whole. Christian thing is weird some people. were saying you know what it sounds like. it sounds like a kid that's scared to. tell their parents they got arrested and. maybe made up a story to make it easier. on them. and didn't think that their parents. would take it that far so people were. very split but because of the public.

pressure and the due process the trial. continues on and when the day of the. trial comes around Christian was a. no-show not only is he a no-show for the. trial he just never follows back up or. attends any of the Court hearings. related to this case ever again so now. again you can have a group of the. netizens saying yeah because he's. intimidated maybe the cops threatened. him and that's why he's not showing up. the others are saying yeah well I. wouldn't show up either if I had lied or. exaggerated a little bit.

so regardless in August of 2008 the case. was officially dismissed due to failure. to prosecute but to the public they. still felt like this is fishy why would. they dismiss it there's something fishy. going on they're all protecting each. other so two new investigations were. held simultaneously so we've got three. full investigations on this case all the. while all five policemen were suspended. without pay and in all subsequent. investigations and hearings Christian. was a no-show once again which again is.

very unusual for the courts in the. Philippines. one of the two subsequent investigations. also dismissed this case because of the. same reason quote failure to prosecute. so now there's just like this one more. active investigation occurring and this. was actually by an office that worked. directly with the Philippines version of. The White House they primarily focused. on official corruption government. officials politicians the police force. they did not need Christian to testify. in early 2009 Mendoza and the other.

officers were found guilty and were. ordered to be dismissed from their. positions every single one of them. responded with a motion for. reconsideration which were ignored so. for a while Mendoza had hope I mean he. knew that he could straighten this out. with the law that's what his family said. he's like no no I trust the due process. I'm just gonna file an appeal they're. gonna listen to what I have to say and. it's gonna make sense and everything. will be okay even though he had been. suspended for nearly a year without pay. he was just fired completely severing.

him from any pension he was feeling very. hopeful all of them are saying this. never happened yes they're saying we. arrested him but we never physically. abused him you know we didn't do any of. that we didn't force feed him what is he. talking about so he starts filing motion. after motion appeal after appeal he even. wrote handwritten grievance letters to. the office to allow him and his co-accus. to bring forth their defense so this. type of investigation was not really. like a trial they weren't allowed to. testify they weren't really allowed to. give their side of the story The it was.

like an internal investigation and they. were like yeah it happened anyway done. you're fired. Mendoza said I'd given my life to the. police force I mean my everything to the. police force even my son is giving his. life to the police force my brother did. the same thing please just listen to. what I have to say I mean I have a. relatively clean record for the past. decade like what is going on according. to those who knew Mendoza it's not even. the reversal of the decision he wanted. he just wanted a chance to a fair trial.

to defend himself give his side of the. story present his side of the evidence. that never happened in fact when he. tried to file for an appeal one of the. officials asked him for money basically. tried to extort him. in this whole case that was very. centered around anti-corruption they. were like yeah I'll file the appeal if. you give me twenty thousand dollars. so uh this is a debate that has. polarized the Philippines I mean he had. accolades character Witnesses who were. in law enforcement themselves he had. Awards he had a relatively clean history.

he was um to some an innocent man Being. Framed by a corrupt system that doesn't. advocate for their own. to some that's what a lot thought they. were convinced that he was innocent and. others felt that he was very guilty but. none of that mattered because he was. going to do whatever whatever it took to. get the police and the nation to listen. to him. because now he's inside of a bus. pointing his rifle at a group of. horrified tourists.

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now near the back of the bus many of the. tourists they start to speak to each. other under their breath. how should we do it. okay they had seen Mendoza opened the. bus doors and stand on the steps at. least a few times to talk to the. negotiators and they all thought the. same thing they just want to race up. behind him kick him out many of them. even rehearse the move in their mind. they're like okay I'm gonna have to kick. him really hard but I can't lose my. balance and then but the problem is. their concern was and they're Whispering. about this once we kick him we have no.

way to communicate with the bus driver. to tell him to close the door and drive. drive what if he doesn't and he opens. fire towards the bus driver and everyone. inside or at worse what if he starts. shooting into the crowd outside in every. situation that they ran in their heads. innocent lives were at stake. so they all casually but slowly you know. trying not to draw attention to. themselves scan their eyes around the. seats to see if there was anything like. any weapon that they could use against. him. they would mutter under their breasts if.

we can just get a few guys to hold him. down. maybe one of the women can try and. disarm him grab all of his weapons but. always it came down to there's kids on. the bus we can't risk the gun. accidentally firing and hitting someone. especially a kid. so they sat there analyzing every micro. facial expression on Mendoza's face I. mean they had no idea for how long they. would have to endure this and how long. before his patients ran out. once in a while they would sneak a peek. outside the blinds and see the.

authorities as well as this massive. crowd gathered around the bus like not. only directly outside imagine there's. like an invisible wall because no one. wants to get that close because there's. a gunman on board but they're just all. standing around in a giant Circle. it was clear though right the. authorities are working on it maybe it's. the safest if we just let them do their. jobs I mean right because he's not even. asking for a lot yeah he's asking for. his old job back yeah so we should just. stay quiet not cause any trouble and the.

authorities will protect us why can't. they just agree and then like negotiate. so he wanted an official legal letter. like a binding contract which I don't. know why you can't just forge my. imagination and my Googling tells me if. a hostage negotiator that works for the. police forges or goes back on their. promise then the next time there is a. hostage situation it would become more. difficult. like their credibility goes down so it's. very hard to just outright lie in a. hostage negotiation because then the.

next one you have no credibility but the. authorities in this case they would. continue to make mistake after mistake. they would not be able to protect the. tourist an egregious amount of Errors if. I'm being honest with you was made on. this case beginning from the moment that. they arrive on the scene first mistake. what would you do if you were the. negotiators on this case the very first. thing that you would do like when I. arrive at this team and there's just. people everywhere journalists reporters. oh like get rid of those people. establish a perimeter the bus is in a.

public on a very busy citizen-packed. public area you need to make sure you. create a perimeter around the bus make. sure that no authorities no citizens no. reporters without explicit permission. are allowed past that border that was. not done I mean there was like kind of a. perimeter put in place but if you really. wanted you could easily bypass it and. walk straight up to the bus which is. later done by someone a civilian that. just walks straight up to the bus. why oh we're gonna get there ultimately.

there is no protected police line for. the media to stay behind authorities. failed to protect the perimeter in the. full 11 hours that the tense hostage. situation was taking place there was no. protected line and whatever the. authorities were doing behind the scenes. wasn't even behind the scenes because. there were media everywhere so imagine. media with these giant cameras on their. shoulders and they're like okay I'm just. gonna lean to the right and that right. there is the hostage negotiator game. planning what to say next and they would.

just air it for the whole nation and for. the whole world to basically live stream. it in real time. look I'm not a good negotiator I'm the. ultimate pushover but even I know the. golden rule in negotiations is don't. show your hands don't show people your. cards the police are just showing it to. the whole nation which he can have. access to right oh that becomes a big. thing there's a cable connected TV on. the tour of us. so he's just watching whatever they're. doing and this becomes a big part of why.

he becomes Trigger Happy. another mistake all traffic was blocked. by the situation so I mean this is a. busy road traffic jam the police made. sure that no traffic was going to come. through but they did not put up signs or. have people directing traffic so traffic. continued to get more and more congested. this traffic jam. almost directly led to the hostage. situation taking a really dark turn. because someone was going to deliver an. official letter of reinstatement for his. job but they were stuck in traffic no.

yes. we're gonna get there so for Miles. radiating out from the grandstand it was. bumper-to-bumper traffic this would. prove to be fatal hostage negotiations. are quite like a dance that you need to. perform there's a lot of listening a lot. of relating it's literally like a. relationship you're trying to do active. listening you're trying to resonate with. them you're not trying to make them feel. anxiety that's the biggest thing that. they said the reason that hostage. negotiators do not ask the hostage taker.

how many guns they have or what kind of. weapons they have is because it strikes. this anxiety where they're like I need. to use this they're scoping me out. they're looking at me they're planning. ways to infiltrate so instead they ask. questions of like how are you how are. you feeling you just listen to them and. what Mendoza wanted and all they had to. do was an official legal document a. reinstatement for his job The Negotiator. says yes we're gonna try and pull some. strings to make it happen I mean this is.

a pretty tame negotiation compared to. other things that we've seen like like. even in movies you see hostage takers. demanding millions and used bills. delivered in suitcases that have fake. passports inside and a helicopter. delivered on a helipad on a platter but. he's like I just want a letter and I. want my job back like I want to show up. to work tomorrow and clock in like you. know where I'm gonna be tomorrow I'm. going to be at work and I'm emphasizing. this point not to say that it wasn't. traumatic for the people being held. hostage but to show you how badly. authorities messed it up. Mrs Lee is the first hostage to be.

released. just imagine the circus that is. happening outside the bus this is about. an hour in pure chaos everyone freezes. the bus door just opened and someone is. walking off Mrs Lee had told Mendoza she. had a stomachache and needed fresh air. considering her husband Mr Lee was still. on the bus he let her out on the. condition that she would come back which. she had every intention of doing so for. her husband but media and police they.

would not allow her to when she walked a. few steps out of range from the bus she. was swarmed two officers grabbed her. dragged her to the paramedics the media. swarmed her shoving cameras and mics in. her face nobody protected her from them. or from anyone for that matter there. wasn't even a single private place for. Mrs Lee to be taken a place for the. officers to I don't know what would you. do if Mrs Lee came out of the bus yeah. you're for shelter and privacy and. communicate with her and listen to her. communicate with her listen to her that.

would be one of the most fatal mistakes. once Mrs Lee was out of the bus no. officer asked her a single question. about the situation inside the bus no. one would ask her how many guns did he. have how many exits there were how many. children were there were people tied up. did he seem angry agitated unhinged how. calm is he why not a single thing I. don't know maybe it's the language. barrier but you could easily find a. translator I mean there's so many people. there's gotta easily be one translator.

in there they were just like we're gonna. get the letter anyway so it's fine this. would have been the ultimate upper hand. in a hostage negotiation. they never interviewed her and she tried. to go back in yes which they won't allow. no. well that must be really devastating. yeah oh it gets really sad later they. never interviewed her she's handed over. to the paramedics and practically. ignored by the hostage negotiators. nearly two hours in the doors open a. second time out comes a mother and three.

young children they look terrified but. this is a good sign right I mean he's. slowly letting the woman and children. off he's not harming anyone as. horrifying as the experiences everyone. is still alive inside. all of that would change very very soon. the first mini negotiations started. taking place around hour three human. life in exchange for food and water the. hostages needed to eat they needed water. and so did Mendoza he would release a. few hostages here and there exchanging. for food and water on the condition that.

he would share with the passengers every. so often you would see a curtain slide. open and a concerned face of a passenger. a hostage disappear and these were all. shot on camera by the media all the. people could do was just stare back. wondering are we helping what's going on. and the hostages like the look on their. face it just looks like they're asking. through the glass like what is taking so. long what's going on this is like hour. three he said like yeah they said they. have to talk to the mayor and get all of. these approvals for the reinstatement.

they said that they don't have the power. to do that okay that's a phone call yeah. so by now there are 17 hostages left on. the bus and still everybody is alive. negotiations were painfully slow and. arduous they would exchange demands and. then they would wait for the food to. arrive wait for the hostages to be let. out and then wait for orders from the. chain of command but it didn't have to. be like that the negotiators and. authorities made the decision to. negotiate with Mendoza they were. basically waiting for him to ask for.

something and then they would try to. work on giving it instead of being. proactive and being like hey okay so. this is what we're gonna do we're gonna. bring you this letter it's gonna take. some time but in order for us to bring. the letter you like let someone out and. then another person they were just like. oh you want food well can we get a. hostage oh you need water now can we get. a hostage it's almost like they were. just waiting around for what he wanted. next instead of doing the damn job it. was very clear from the get-go that. Mendoza was in charge of this whole. thing and it seems like even he knew it.

at one point Mendoza literally stood in. the door wait and waved to the. authorities in media with a big smile on. his face. the [ __ ] literally smiled and. waved. so our four out of 11 Mrs Lee was. disgusted and outraged by the situation. she felt so helpless her husband of 40. years is inside that bus her best friend. the only one that she could imagine. spending the rest of her life with was. inside that bus and you need to get him. in a last-ditch effort she marches up to. the police Taps him on the shoulder and.

says you cannot just sit around my. husband is an older man he needs his. medication he's a diabetic if he doesn't. have it you will have a medical. emergency on your hands I don't know how. much of this was true negotiator Yerba. ran to tell Mendoza exactly what was. told to him he was like oh my God Mr. Lee's gonna have a medical emergency we. need to get in the meds. maybe if this had happened hour one hour. two things would have played out. differently but hour four Mendoza was. starting to feel anxious he felt like. his demand for a letter of reinstatement. were very clear and very simple why.

didn't they just bring it to him are. they planning something are they. stalling are they trying to set up. snipers or something what is going on. he was becoming increasingly paranoid. along with the gas meter that's going. down because they're pumping that AC. non-stop so he realizes that Mr Lee. thanks to the information given by the. negotiators is a high value hostage the. authorities want him out so he leverages. Mr Lee and says I will give you Mr Lee. if you fill the bus up with gas we need. AC for the hostages to give you an.

example if the gas ran out the AC would. turn off it would not be good but it. would potentially push them out of the. bus including Mendoza himself. authorities gave the deal a go-ahead. around 2PM the doors of the bus opened. and Mrs Lee watched from the crowd and. she held her breath because she could. see her husband right there standing at. the steps of the bus holding his little. bag from their trip. he's scanning the crowd looking for Mrs. Lee and she wished she could scream like. I'm here I'm here I'm here and he was so. close but right as he's about to step. down Mendoza appears and he feels his.

hand on his shoulder. like stopping him Mrs Lee held her. breath and most of the crowd went silent. was he going to let him off was this. about to take a turn for the worst was. this about to be a public execution. you could see the terror on most. people's faces. Mendoza reached into his pocket. pulled out his phone. and called The Negotiator and said I'm. gonna let him go if you can guarantee. that I will be reinstated Yerba tried to.

calm him down over the phone of course. the manila's vice mayor is already on. route to the address the whole thing you. know you know how it is all the legal. loops and holes and procedures is very. archaic you get it but we're gonna have. the letter to you don't worry. after what felt like an eternity Mr Lee. felt the weight of Mendoza's hand lift. from his shoulder which I imagine that. felt like a thousand pounds and he. slowly walked off the bus he did not. look back I imagined for the first few. steps there is this fear with you that. you're going to be shot down in front of.

everyone in front of your wife you don't. know if you're truly free yet you don't. want to run because it might cause a. disturbance you tried your best to keep. calm keep cool Mr Lee was rushed to the. paramedics where he expected to see Mrs. Lee waiting for him but instead there. was this younger woman there and she. immediately approaches him and he has no. idea who this woman is honestly he. doesn't care he just wants his wife and. the woman just kept apologizing and. apologizing about what he had gone. through and it was it was kind of a. strange experience neither of them could. really communicate with one another but. it was very clear she was very sorry and.

he soon found out why she said. I'm Mendoza's daughter. Mr Lee gave her his Blessing he said. it's okay it's all going to be over. anyway once that letter comes he was. rushed to the paramedics and it was over. for the lease but for the others we have. just reached the halfway point side note. this is very sad but when the leaves. were reunited they were both sobbing and. Mrs Lee could not tell him fast enough. that she would never leave him she did. not abandon him she was trying to get. back to the bus but the police wouldn't.

let her the media wouldn't let her she. would never in a million years abandon. him on the bus alone just so that she. could be safe and he just held her and. said I know. I know unfortunately authorities would. ignore Mr Lee just like they had Mrs Lee. and all the other hostages that were. released another missed opportunity for. authorities to gather critical. information on the situation inside not. a single one of them was asked a single. question. the incompetence of the negotiators and. officers would only get worse from here. the crowd starts going crazy once again.

and pointing at the bus the authorities. looked over and who is that. is that who authorized this is that one. of us. who is that armed man walking up to the. bus. there's just a dude walking up to the. bus the civilian was now just a few feet. away from the bus when authorities were. able to stop him one of the negotiators. Salvador ran up booked it to him grabbed. his firearm you're not allowed here you. don't have clearance you need to ask. clearance from the crisis committee to. talk to Mendoza or anyone on the bus is.

it a cop or. another officer went up to detain the. civilian who quickly screamed I'm. Mendoza's brother I'm Mendoza's brother. so he is a cop he's not on duty right. now he's not working this he is armed. because he has a weapon and he's. Mendoza's brother authorities drag him. back to the control center which again. is just an area in the crowd where the. cops are congregating so the media is. still there and this entire situation. where a citizen was allowed to walk into. an act of Hostage negotiation was seen.

on live television showing the nation. and really the world that no authorities. had control over this situation right. now media can even see what the police. are doing to the civilian now that he. was back in the crowd with the cops. they're broadcasting that this is where. the domino effect of police incompetence. starts to alter the course of events had. the police spoken to any of the hostages. that were freed from the bus any single. one of them they would have known that. Mendoza was able to witness everything. from inside the bus because the bus had. cable TV the authorities did not know.

that so Mendoza saw on TV as his brother. was being taken aggressively by. authorities dragged back to the command. center and arrested. in addition around the same time he was. like handcuffed yeah pretty aggressively. too wouldn't you want to get the. brothers to assist in this situation or. the daughter so later they do get the. brother to help deliver a letter but it. was too late in addition to that Mendoza. was given the letter by negotiators and. it was basically like Hey we're going to. review your reinstatement that is not.

the same as you are reinstated so. Mendoza screamed at the negotiators this. is not what I want what you delivered is. just a letter to pacify me this isn't. right I read the letter and it's no use. for me this made Mendoza. Trigger Happy. sometime between 5 PM and 6 PM Mendoza. moved the tour guide from the back of. the bus to the very front he handcuffed. the tour guide to the front door and. attempt to scare the government it was. very clear what the message was this.

will be a public execution unless you. comply with my demands the tourists were. terrified I think something in the air. had shifted on the bus it was almost. tangible they heard Mendoza scream five. minutes over the phone. and then he went to counting the number. of heads on the bus and those were. probably the longest five minutes of. their lives for five minutes nobody. moved nobody even dared breathing too. loud and after five minutes. nothing happened. Mendoza just kept making more and more.

calls and with every call the hostages. felt his anger Rising I mean this is the. exact opposite of what negotiators are. supposed to be doing whatever they're. doing it's not working with every call. he's getting angrier the whole point of. negotiation isn't even to win but it's. that with every single call you. de-escalate the situation the TV was. playing his brother's arrest and after. yet another anger-inducing phone call. Mendoza hung up and bang. the whole bus shook. some people screamed other people froze.

with shock. he had just shot and killed the tour. guide. then he walked from the front to the. back of the bus. shooting the passengers one by one Mr. Liang he was there with his whole family. wife children he and Another Man rushed. forward to stop Mendoza but both of them. fell to the floor. they were shot. a Survivor said after Mendoza killed. those two men the entire bus was deadly.

silent. nobody wanted to move they hoped that he. would stop there was not a single sound. for several minutes other than gunshots. the survivors ducked under their seats. and got on the floor and um. Amy Lang she was hiding. and she was very close to her dead. husband who had just been shot trying to. protect everyone. she wanted desperately to check on her. husband to help him in some way Amy was. there with her husband and her three. children and it said that one of her. kids had moved to check on her brother.

who had been shot. and she too was shot and killed. the Survivor said looking at all the. bodies in front of them all you could do. was. Buddhist chants because that's all you. know how to do that was her custom she. said whenever someone passed she would. recite the chance so that they would be. at peace. but when she would even stop these. transfer even a moment the Panic would. start setting in like were they actually. dead there's no way like how long have. we been hiding should I try and get up. should I try and fight there's got to be.

a way. she kept envisioning their poor souls. just wandering around the bus trying to. get out. everyone so he's shooting at everyone. and there is blood it's like a bloodbath. so people are dropping to the ground and. in the chaos of the gunfire and the. screams and everything that's going on. some people were not shot or they were. shot but not fatally so they're. pretending to be dead they're soaked in. maybe even their blood or other people's. blood and hoping that he doesn't realize. that they're alive.

almost as a way to cope One Survivor. said she started repeating of prayer. very very slowly and she tried to focus. her attention on the things in life that. she still needed to do she needed to see. her family and friends again. and she said that it was heartbreaking. looking over at her mom who was also. hiding alongside her. they were both pretending to be dead to. not attract attention from Mendoza. another Survivor Mr Chan said I saw both. of my hands had holes so he had blocked. the bullet with his hands. and they were just like obliterated and.

he said that he would press his hands. together as he laid sideways on the seat. pretending to be dead. and I guess his hands were very close to. his neck so when Mendoza walked by it. looked like he was bleeding from his. neck. he said it was so quiet so quiet I was. the last one he shot because he could. see blood gushing out of me he thought I. was dead. but he would fire second rounds at. people that he felt like were alive. if someone moved I would see him go over. and fire another shot. remember the Survivor from the start of. the story who has to wear a mask every.

day. she said when she was shot in the jaw. she just had to lay there. motionless like live through that pain. and Agony she said all she could do to. get through that pain was to think about. her two-year-old son she said after I. was shot I immediately thought about him. he was only two at the time and I just. kept telling myself I can't die because. if I die my son will be an orphan. I told myself again and again don't give. up don't give up your son needs you can. you imagine how hard it is to be laying. there next to your loved ones because.

most of these people came with their. loved ones they did not come alone not. knowing if their loved one is dead dying. or if there's something that you can do. to help them not knowing if they're just. pretending to be dead just like you are. and having to stay so utterly still. otherwise he would come back and shoot. you like the fear the trauma your heart. is beating out of your chest but you. can't let him see that you have to force. yourself to calm your breathing the moms. are praying that their children are just. pretending to be dead even if then what. if they move what if they sneeze what if. they don't know that they should be.

pretending to be dead there are literal. children what if Mendoza comes up to. them and shoots them again for no reason. I mean as a mom do you get up and scream. only to die too or do you try and hold. it and try and survive and hope that. your kids are also surviving. like I cannot even begin to imagine what. everyone on that floor of that bus was. thinking in those very moments and I. would just imagine that maybe they're. all focusing all their attention on not. moving not making any noise maybe it's. like a distraction. it was about to get nearly impossible to.

lay there Motionless. they heard the back of the window break. and a canister of tear gas was thrown. into the bus oh my goodness every single. Survivor chokes back tears as they. strained every single muscle in their. body to not sneeze or cough they watched. as their loved ones struggle to breathe. and their faces would go red and no one. dared to cough. and all I can say is I feel like this. could have been prevented. before Mendoza fired the first shot a. few things could have changed the course.

of history. one the saf special action forces an. Elite Tactical force of the Philippines. had undergone training by the American. FBI they were deployed to the scene as a. direct order from the president of the. Philippines they arrive on the scene. assess the situation assumed position. ready to go in they're ready all they. need is the go-ahead from the president. and they would be on the Move I'm not. sure if their involvement could have. changed Things For Better or For Worse. could have saved lives but they were. there ready to be used and they were. highly skilled highly trained and.

Incredibly strategic but they never got. a signal from the president so they're. just like waiting on the sidelines and. then it starts to rain rain starts. coming down hard on everything and. everyone pure chaos in suit authorities. media everything was hot humid wet. sticky you couldn't see much the Sun is. setting it's getting dark only adding to. like the tension of things the saf knows. they have to move in and move in quickly. but they're literally unallowed to do so. without signal from the president what's. going on the president is like doing a.

whole bunch of others okay he's not even. responding to Hong Kong's like officials. calling him Hong Kong officials are like. hey those are our people what's going on. and he's not picking up this would cause. huge diplomatic disasters later after. the incident so they just kind of stood. there wasting time meanwhile Yoruba the. main negotiator was trying to get in. contact with the mayor and the police. general to get authorization on a new. letter he knew that they needed to act. quickly he's getting trigger happy this. is before he even fired a single shot.

Yoruba needed a better letter but the. two the mayor and the police general. they could not reach an agreement on. whether or not they were going to comply. with the demands I think they were. having conversations such as if we. comply with these demands then that sets. a tone for further hostage negotiations. and are we really going to let this man. be a cop after all of this but if we. arrest him then it looks like you know. in hostage negotiations we're just big. fat Liars. no so what do they do the mayor suggest.

and this is giving itawan flashbacks. that they go to a nearby restaurant to. have dinner and talk it out you were. absolutely hearing this correctly they. went to a dinner at a local restaurant I. don't even know how to explain how vile. disgusting and evil this is this. literally reminds me of it Taiwan so. badly there is an escalating hostage. situation people are dying and they are. eating dinner I I cannot even fathom the. process of these Twisted men we have the. total power to change and alter the. course of things but let's go eat dinner.

blood would soon be on their hands so. just to give you an inner an overview. Mendoza is becoming unhinged because his. brother is arrested on TV and he can see. it he receives a letter that he probably. correctly believes to be a stalling. tactic from the police meanwhile nobody. outside can seem to get there together. and another blow is delivered to Mendoza. he sees on TV that the police are. setting up snipers he sees it on TV. literally the media is putting it out. there and he sees it the authorities.

have no idea there is cable inside of. the bus because none of them talk to a. single former hostage that was let out. so the situation is escalating and. becoming more dangerous by the second. Mendoza's mental state is clearly. deteriorating evidenced by the phone. calls he's making so it's not like he's. deteriorating inside and shutting. everyone out he's constantly making. phone calls everyone knows he's. becoming unhinged. like we have the worst kind of hostage. taker in our hands the scariest kind. which is the unpredictable kind.

what's insane is that there is a letter. on route to the hostage site a letter. that would confirm Mendoza's full. reinstatement into the police service I. believe this was given out by a. different government official and this. letter would not get there in time as it. was stuck in traffic due to the fact. that the police failed to set up traffic. control near the site. the letter would arrive at 7 30 PM but. it was too late shots had already been. fired. the negotiators were trying to get. through to Mendoza on the phone to tell. him to stop to tell him that there was a. letter on the way but they got a busy.

signal so there's a few theories Theory. a reporters found the number and they. were calling non-stop to get live. interviews which did happen I'm just not. sure if that's the one that led to the. busy signal in this crucial moment but. they did call. yeah a lot of reporters were under Fire. after this because they were literally. calling the only line of communication. between Mendoza and the hostage. officials negotiators to get a live. interview how are they allowed to do. this though because the police are not. controlling anything and this kind of.

reminds me of a lot of cases that we. talked about in South Korea when there. is um people don't want to take. accountability so the officers just kind. of keep bouncing it back and no one is. controlling anything they're just like. oh that's them that's handling it oh. that's them that's handling it like it's. giving this Hayward fairy no one wants. to be the one to put their foot down and. be like okay you do this you do that I'm. gonna secure the area no one is allowed. to call because we're gonna freaking. arrest them. or the other theory is that Mendoza knew. that this was the end so he was calling.

his loved ones to say goodbye there was. another secondary letter coming from the. officials from the restaurant so the. mayor and the chief commander they're. coming from the restaurant with a letter. but they would also be late and they. blamed it on traffic had they not been. eating dinner had the police directed. traffic and had the negotiators started. with this tactic from the very beginning. all of the lies on the tour bus. likely could have been saved how do you. bling on traffic when this went on for. 11 hours yeah that's what I'm saying. like you had 11 hours to get that letter. there. get a helicopter you are the government.

get a helicopter print a thousand copies. of it and just shower it down if you. need to like what are you doing you got. nowhere to land okay shower down the. paper but the games were over the shots. were fired and all the public could do. was watch as the bus shook with each. shot and listen to either the screams or. the utter silence that was almost. suffocating people literally watched the. massacre of the hostages right before. their eyes it was almost confirmed to.

everyone that they were all dead. and nothing happened no one did anything. to stop it at 7 30 PM the bus driver who. was not shot for whatever reason was. able to free himself and broke free from. the window for the past few hours he had. been using a pair of nail clippers to. slowly pick the lock of his handcuffs. now side note people would later suspect. that he was working with Mendoza but um. I don't know what motive he would have. maybe that Mendoza paid him to tell him. where the tour schedule was and to help. hijack but other than that I don't know. he was suspected to be in on it because.

people couldn't believe that he could. pick the Handcuff lock with nail. clippers and adding to the suspicions he. and his family packed up and moved away. without notice after this but I don't. know how like really suspicious that is. I would imagine with all the media. attention and Trauma I would like to get. the hell out of there too. so everyone watched in Surprise and. [ __ ] as the bus driver ran out the. broken window and kept screaming They're. All Dead They're All Dead They're All. Dead. what about the hijacker he's alive he's. alone in the bus with dead hostages as.

well as hostages pretending to be dead. then how did the driver get out in front. of me so he was like in the back I guess. shooting people and he managed to get. out the front through a window so. finally the mayor arrived at the scene. and they blame their tardiness on. traffic yes they arrive and the police. Commander is given explicit instructions. from allegedly the president to send the. safn to get Mendoza but instead what. does he do he sends in the Manila Police. SWAT team look I'm sure the SWAT team is.

great but there's levels to these forces. and it's very clear to everyone it is. not a competition some people just. receive more heavy intensive training. and the saf was clearly fit for this job. they were more capable it's like do I. send in the detective or the CIA and FBI. agents if the president told me to send. in the CIA and FBI I'm going to send in. the CIA and the FBI and not the local. sheriff so why did he do that because. the SWAT teams are under his command he.

wanted control of the situation it was. an ego power play. maybe in his head he was like the SWAT. team is better the saf doesn't know what. they're doing I don't know it's bizarre. no one understands Filipinos everywhere. are like why would he do that he was let. go from his job because it's so bizarre. that he would do that but it was just a. disgusting display of Pride ego and. power play so 737 SWAT teams move in and. this is seen by all the media so just. think about that SWAT teams move in and. they try smashing the windows of the bus. they could not break the windows they.

were too thick this is very embarrassing. the SWAT teams look a bit confused they. try to open the front door but Mendoza. opens fire on them and they see the. handcuffed dead body of the tour guide. and decide this is not a viable route of. Entry so what do they do they go away. from the bus they create some distance. from the bus and they start regrouping. and thinking about how to enter and this. is insane as they're talking the media. basically Taps them on the shoulder and. says hey you know there's an emergency. exit in the back right. which side note I feel like everyone.

knows that police officer SWAT team or. not there's always some sort of. emergency exit in the back of any public. or business passenger transport the SWAT. team heads over to the pack manages to. crack the window open but Mendoza opens. fire at them and you can see some of the. swap members like fall off the bus in. shock in what a lot of netizens call a. quote pathetic display as this unfolded. ground Commander General who made the. decision to send in the SWAT team he was. immediately sacked so meanwhile all the. saf do is wait till the next highest in. command give them the order to head in.

and all they could do was watch the SWAT. team fail over and over again. by 8 PM they were ordered to join the. SWAT team in attempting to penetrate the. bus so from here they would finally take. control over the operation the saaf. decided let's send them some tear gas. the window in the back is already broken. we just need to pull the pin throw it in. here's what we're trying to do the back. of the bus it's all boarded up by the. blinds of the curtains we need to push. Mendoza to the front of the bus where we. have clear view and the snipers can get. him so throw in the tear gas and then.

we'll infiltrate so that's what they do. they send the tear gas in and all their. survivors are trying their best not to. cough but thankfully Mendoza is too. concerned about his own life so he. instinctively runs towards the front of. the bus and snipers at 8 41 pm. they broke the glass and a total of 17. gunshot wounds were fired into Mendoza's. body he would stumble and fall against. the cracked glass door this is a crime. scene photo that I think everyone should. be aware of that is out there.

his torso is sticking out of the broken. glass of the door halfway so he's like. halfway out of the bus his arms are. hanging completely limp and there was a. fatal shot by the sniper that had blown. like half of his skull it was still. somewhat attached and it was just. hanging from the rest of his head it's. very graphic and because police had no. control over the area basically everyone. saw it and took pictures. then the silence was broken by screams. that's how everyone knew there were. survivors at this point with the bus. driver screaming everyone was dead the.

tear gas the shots fired inside the bus. everyone assumed that there was no. survivors but now that they knew it was. a media circus everyone just ran to the. bus. everyone paramedics ran to try and save. the survivors authorities ran media ran. shoving cameras into survivors faces as. they're being hauled off the bus the. reporters and journalists are literally. screaming interview questions at. survivors who have just been through one. of the most traumatic things any human. can go through and not only that even. after the survivors were brought out the.

bus was never secured anyone could. basically walk straight into the bus if. they wanted the whole area was in. complete disarray I mean it's not even. surprising at this point but the media. was never controlled in this case they. were just sharks in the water reporters. journalists they did not care they just. wanted the best story. one journalist even went above and. beyond and he somehow kept calling the. bus hijacker Mendoza. and they were just like we want. exclusive interviews so after 11 hours.

everyone thought the incident was. finally over but it was not it was the. beginning of just pure trauma healing. grief and also an absolute diplomatic. disaster Hong Kong had been repeatedly. trying to get in contact with the. president of the Philippines during the. whole situation and multiple times he. was unreachable and now that Mendoza was. dead the Chinese Embassy requested. information on where the victim's bodies. were being taken as well as the. survivors through this they find out. that some of the victims had actually. been turned away from the hospital the.

hospital was like oh you're a survivor. of the hostage situation sorry we're. like jam-packed right now so you gotta. go somewhere else there was no. coordination with the authorities in the. medical facilities so imagine you just. walk into urgent care and they're like. sorry we can't we are like the cops just. walked me in here because I was. literally held hostage and I have been. shot in the jaw they're like yeah but. you gotta find a new hospital add to. that only Chinese Embassy officials ever. visited the survivors and the victims in. the hospital there survivors even. wondered out loud to the media wouldn't. the Filipino government want to.

interview us for the case reports. wouldn't police want to talk to us get. all the details of what happened inside. the bus for the past 11 hours. they were never questioned separate. investigations were done both by the. Philippine and Chinese governments. following the hijacking each separately. concluded that one of the primary issues. that felt were the negotiations falling. apart earlier during the day this. included the police's forced unnecessary. harassment towards Mendoza's brother and. the lack of interviewing released. hostages survivors stated yeah Mendoza.

opened fire and when he did he was an. evil cold-blooded man but when he. boarded that bus we all saw him as a. hopeful man. so we don't know why this happened this. did not have to get to that point Mrs. Lee even said I felt that when he. boarded the bus he was a kind-hearted. man and I felt that there was a high. high chance of peaceful surrendering. once his demand was met. another key failure was the aftermath. there was no plan for what to do after. the assault the crime scene was not.

preserved it was really really bad and. this brought up the case of Christian. and side note I don't want this to make. it seem like the I mean you guys already. know okay the Filipino citizens have. nothing to do with this when's the last. time the US government did something and. you're like oh my God Americans suck. like we don't want to be so closely. attached to our government we don't have. control over 99 of the stuff the. government does probably 99.99 percent. Filipino citizens were just as angry as.

the citizens in Hong Kong as the. families of the victims well maybe not. as angry but they were infuriated they. wanted answers because at the end of the. day how the Filipino government reacts. and responds to these tragedies it's. going to impact Filipino citizens the. most it's going to impact Filipino lives. the most in the long run so they were. upset they were upset for the victims. they wanted answers. now the netizens were split though on. whether or not Christian was lying now.

if Christian had lied in the original. case and Mendoza had been fired from his. job and there was other corruption going. on that would kind of make it seem like. the whole system was corrupt and Mendoza. was somewhat of a victim of the system. as well other people stated that he was. not a victim like he probably did that. if not similar things and if they went. digging they uncovered that in 1996. Mendoza had been accused of. participating in the game of a woman. near Rizal Park this is nearby where the.

hostages were taken the case was. dismissed because the prosecution's. witness did not appear in court notice. in speculate that is way too similar. maybe the cops are threatening the. witnesses the victims to not appear in. court some people believe that he. learned very early on that charges go. away when the victim does not appear in. court. others believe that maybe it was just. people crying wolf and that he was. innocent But ultimately there was about. a year and a half between when he was. fired and when he started um the hostage.

situation a year and a half is a really. long time to stop planning an attack. it's a lot of time for you to think back. and say maybe I shouldn't do this. and I think the fact that he continued. to do it and yes we can have sympathy. for that feeling I think all of us have. felt that Injustice of we've been. accused of doing something that we. didn't do and we are facing the. consequences of it. but to put people's lives in danger. that's not something normal people do. that's not something good people do the.

total death toll was nine deaths. including the death of Mendoza himself. and a Survivor stated I've reviewed the. incident in my mind a million times over. and I'm just so angry I have so much. regret I just kept thinking why didn't. we take action to save ourselves why did. we hand our Fates to an incompetent. government during the long waiting. process and just quietly wait for help. that never came also another Survivor. said if there is anyone in Hong Kong. that feels anger towards the Filipino. citizens why feel Injustice for the. victims we can want a proper and fair.

investigation but support the. Philippines and the people of the. Philippines support them as they build a. more trustworthy government the Chinese. government expressed anger and. disapproval in the investigation they. sent a team to the Philippines to handle. the situation they also refused. delegation visits from the VP of the. Philippines Hong Kong restricted all. visa-free visits from Filipino residents. to the Hong Kong for a brief period of. time I think it went like both ways and. all of this was made worse when it was. discovered that Mendoza's family had.

covered his coffin with the Filipino. flag do during his burial and a lot of. netizens including Filipino citizens. were very upset about that the Hong Kong. government issued a travel alert to the. Philippines advised against travel and. um yeah Hong Kong officials also offered. condolences and Aid to the survivors and. their families and organized a memorial. ceremony for the victims the Hong Kong. Stock Exchange held a minute silence and. lowered Flags to half-mast to mourn the.

victims a visit by Manila officials. later to Hong Kong helped ease the. tensions a little bit and the sanctions. were lifted but it was just a lot it was. an international disaster the Canadian. foreign minister expressed condolences. five of the victims were Canadian. Nationals the British government. confirmed that two elderly hostages Mr. and Mrs Lee were in fact British. citizens. and meanwhile I don't think that there. were any U.S Nationals or citizens but. the U.S embassy in Manila publicly. condemned the hostage taker for his.

actions regardless of the reasoning in. August of 2011 two survivors and a. victim's brother met with the Filipino. government to discuss compensation in. 2014 an agreement was reached under an. undisclosed amount another Survivor said. yeah money is fine but for me the only. thing I want this is Mrs eek she said. the only thing I want is for my son to. be able to see my face without a mask. and I just want to live without fear. remember Mr Liang the one that tried to.

stop the gunman and was murdered two of. his daughters were murdered there were. five family members on on the bus so the. two parents and the three kids two of. the three kids were murdered the dad was. murdered the only survivors were the mom. and the 18 year old son Jason was in a. coma. but he um woke up so I guess to end the. episode on some hopeful news Jason was. flown back to Hong Kong regained. Consciousness and the first words that.

he spoke was the doctor pointed at his. mom and said who is this who is this and. he said that's Mommy. he is able to read English and Chinese. but the neurosurgeon said that the. journey to recovery is going to be very. long and it's not going to be a small. challenge. but it's something. and his mother said the feeling of. relief I've experienced it cannot be. described with words I just can only be. grateful. and that is the story of the Manila bus. hostage situation.

it reminds me so much as I was. researching just reminds me so much of. the tower fairy the Italian incident. where I cannot even wrap my head around. some of these government officials and. the fact that they genuinely think in. today's day and age they can do the most. heinous things. and think that no one is going to be. like why'd you do that you literally. caused people to die why'd you do that. why did you go eat dinner. they're like No One's Gonna ask me that. what are your thoughts and like I said. government and its people are two.

different entities all right please let. me know in the comments stay safe and I. will see you guys on Sunday for the. Minnesota bye.