Hostage-taker's brother denies conspiracy charge

MANILA, Philippines - Traffic policeman Gregorio Mendoza yesterday denied accusations of conspiring with his slain brother in taking hostage a busload of tourists in Manila on Aug. 23.

Mendoza appeared before the panel of prosecutors at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to submit his affidavit denying the charges.

Mendoza also sought to dismiss the complaint for “conspiracy to commit serious illegal detention” for lack of merit, factual and legal basis.

With Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Rueda-Acosta as his counsel, Mendoza said he was not aware of the plan of his brother, dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, to take a busload of tourists hostage at the Quirino Grandstand.

Mendoza claimed he went to the scene to help in the negotiations and try to convince his elder brother to surrender.

He said he was under “a moral obligation as a younger brother and a fellow police officer.”

Mendoza said he arrived at the scene in the early afternoon, or three hours after the hostage drama began.

According to Mendoza, he was informed by a colleague policeman that his elder brother took hostage several tourists and that his brother’s children had requested him to help convince their father to surrender peacefully.

“Had I been in conspiracy with my brother in the commission of the said crime, I would have been with him even before he took hostage the Hong Kong tourists,” Mendoza said.

“My presence at the Quirino Grandstand was an emergency,” he stressed.

Mendoza said he was in such a hurry to rush to the scene of the hostage incident that he forgot to wear his uniform, wearing only short pants and a white shirt.

Mendoza said he was even given authority to act as “one of the negotiators upon orders of Mayor (Alfredo) Lim.”

He said his only participation in the incident was to convince his brother to surrender peacefully.

“I was able to talk to my brother when I accompanied P/Supt. Orlando Yebra (chief negotiator) in handing over to my brother the letter of Ombudsman (Merceditas) Gutierrez and it was no less than Mayor Lim who ordered me to accompany P/Supt. Yebra in approaching and negotiating with my brother to put an end to the hostage drama,” Mendoza said in his affidavit. “How can I therefore be in conspiracy with my brother in the commission of the alleged crime?”

Mendoza said anyone in a similar situation would do the same.

“I... would certainly do the same thing like what I have done in order to save the life of my brother and to save the lives of the hostages as well,” Mendoza said in his 12-page pleading.

Mendoza also denied allegations that he had incited his brother not to give up the fight.

Mendoza denied telling his brother not to give in unless the authorities returned his service firearm that was taken from him when he entered the area where the hostage taking took place.

Mendoza said the bus driver, Alberto Lubang, corroborated his claim.

Lubang told the incident investigation and review committee (IIRC) that he never overheard Mendoza telling his distraught brother not to surrender.

“The improper appreciation of my presence at the incident is a mere conjecture and suspicion of P/Supt. Yebra when the negotiation had clearly broken down,” he said.

Mendoza submitted a copy of the IIRC report, highlighting that he “was not among the persons included to be charged of any offense since in truth and in fact, I did not commit any crime or offense.”

The elder Mendoza, a decorated police officer who had been sacked over extortion charges, took a busload of Hong Kong tourists hostage in Manila on Aug. 23, demanding to be reinstated. This led to a siege and muddled police negotiations that ended bloodily, with the elder Mendoza and eight of the tourists shot dead.

Acosta, for her part, questioned the specific charges filed against SPO2 Mendoza.

“There is a need to point out that there is no such statute defining and punishing the alleged crime of ‘conspiracy to commit serious illegal detention’,” she said.

Acosta explained participation by conspiracy is only punishable under specific crimes: treason, coup d’etat or rebellion, sedition, monopolies and combinations on restraint of trade, arson, espionage and terrorism.

“There is therefore no crime committed, since there is no such existing law that defines and penalizes the alleged crime,” she said.

State Prosecutor Vimar Barcellano is investigating the complaint against Mendoza, who remains in his designation in Manila District Traffic Enforcement Unit in Port Area, Manila.

The case was initially assigned to the Manila Prosecutor’s Office, but was later transferred to the DOJ on orders of Secretary Leila de Lima.

Mendoza is facing a separate charge of serious disobedience at the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 11. He is out on bail.