Police missed chances to shoot gunman

Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno and police chief Jesus Verzosa admitted there were repeated opportunities for snipers to shoot the hijacker during the day-long standoff, which was aired around the world on live television.

“There were a lot of chances where we could (have taken) him down,” Puno told the inquiry.

“The general idea then was we would just tire him out and he would release the hostages.”

Sacked policeman Rolando Mendoza took the busload of tourists hostage on Aug. 23 in Manila in a desperate bid to clear himself of extortion charges and get his job back.

For much of the day the negotiating team believed Mendoza was cooperative, Puno said, borne out by his decision to free about a third of the 25 hostages as he bargained for authorities to re-open the extortion case against him.

“By all indications he would release all of them,” Puno said.

But Mendoza, armed with an M-16 assault rifle and a pistol, started shooting about 10 hours into the ordeal after he saw his brother, also a Manila police officer, being detained just outside the bus.

The ill-prepared police were then forced to assault the bus, but were unable to get in and another hour went by before a sniper eventually shot Mendoza dead.

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