The Rizal Park Hostage Crisis in Manila
he Manila hostage crisis, officially known as the Rizal Park hostage-taking incident,[3] occurred when a dismissed Philippine National Police officer took over a tourist bus in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines on August 23, 2010. Disgruntled former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza of the Manila Police District (MPD) hijacked a tourist bus carrying 25 people (20 tourists and a tour guide from Hong Kong, and four Filipinos) in an attempt to get his job back.[4] He said that he had been summarily and unfairly dismissed, and that all he wanted was a fair hearing and the opportunity to defend himself.[5]
Negotiations broke down dramatically about ten hours into the stand-off, when the police arrested Mendoza's brother and thus incited him to open fire.[6] As the shooting began, the bus driver managed to escape, and was shown on television saying "Everyone is dead" before being whisked away by policemen.[7] Mendoza and eight of the hostages were killed and a number of others injured.[8] The MPD's failed rescue attempt and gun-battle with the hijacker, which took around 90 minutes, were watched by millions on live television and the internet.[9]
The Philippine and Hong Kong governments conducted separate investigations into the incident. Both inquiries judged that the victims had been unlawfully killed, and identified the Philippine officials' poor handling of the incident as the cause of the eight hostages' deaths.[10][11] The assault mounted by the MPD, and the resulting shoot-out, have been widely criticized by pundits as "bungled" and "incompetent",[12] and the Hong Kong Government has issued a "black" travel alert for the Philippines as a result of the affair.[13]
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Hijacking
As the Hong Thai Travel Services tour bus was taking on the 25 Hong Kong tourists in front of Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Rolando Mendoza attempted to follow the tourists onto the tour bus, requesting a free ride. When his request was
Negotiations broke down dramatically about ten hours into the stand-off, when the police arrested Mendoza's brother and thus incited him to open fire.[6] As the shooting began, the bus driver managed to escape, and was shown on television saying "Everyone is dead" before being whisked away by policemen.[7] Mendoza and eight of the hostages were killed and a number of others injured.[8] The MPD's failed rescue attempt and gun-battle with the hijacker, which took around 90 minutes, were watched by millions on live television and the internet.[9]
The Philippine and Hong Kong governments conducted separate investigations into the incident. Both inquiries judged that the victims had been unlawfully killed, and identified the Philippine officials' poor handling of the incident as the cause of the eight hostages' deaths.[10][11] The assault mounted by the MPD, and the resulting shoot-out, have been widely criticized by pundits as "bungled" and "incompetent",[12] and the Hong Kong Government has issued a "black" travel alert for the Philippines as a result of the affair.[13]
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Hijacking
As the Hong Thai Travel Services tour bus was taking on the 25 Hong Kong tourists in front of Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Rolando Mendoza attempted to follow the tourists onto the tour bus, requesting a free ride. When his request was