Hostage-taker's family apologises for deaths

Manila:  The father and sister of the hostage-taker apologised for the deaths of eight Hong Kong nationals who were killed in the hostage crisis in Manila's tourist district on Monday.

"On behalf of our family, we are asking for forgiveness," Cathy Mendoza Salgado said on TV, during the start of the wake for her brother, the hostage-taker, Rolando Mendoza in Tanauan, Batangas, southern Luzon.

"We are also feeling what the relatives of the Chinese nationals in Hong Kong feel about the loss of their loved ones," Salgado said.

Video footage showed Mendoza's father Ramon, 80, who cried profusely when the casket bearing his son the hostage-taker's body was brought into the family home.

"Please forgive us," the father uttered.

A friend of the family said on TV that Rolando Mendoza was a "good man," adding the latter was even planning to run as a village chairman because of his desire to serve the people.

Rolando Mendoza had been a decorated policeman and was picked by Jaycees International as one of the country's top 10 policemen in 1986.

He had received 17 awards for good performance, the Inquirer said.

In 2009, the Ombudsman ordered Mendoza's dismissal following a complaint filed by Christian Kalaw, a chef of the Mandarin Hotel, in 2008, for extortion, robbery, and grave threats.

Kalaw said he was forced to swallow shabu after his arrest for illegal parking, and was consequently asked to shell out P20,000 for his release, in 2008.

Rolando Mendoza's wife Aurora, and brothers Gregorio and Florencio, went to Manila hoping to negotiate with the hostage-taker to release his hostages on Monday.

Mendoza has three children - a 33-year-old seaman, a 27-year-old daughter who works as a call-centre agent, and a 26-year-old police inspector in northern Luzon.