MANILA, Philippines – Police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) members who took part in the botched rescue of Hong Kong tourists in Manila on August 23 believe that they needed the proper gear to take down hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza.

Three SWAT officers led by Senior Police Office 3 Alfonso Gameng told the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) hearing on Saturday that they had no confidence in the equipment they were using during the assault on the bus.

“Kulang po kami ng equipment…iyung gamit namin, panahon pa ng Vietnam War iyun eh (We lack equipment… what we had dated back to the Vietnam War,” one official said.

The Vietnam War officially began in 1955 and ended in 1975. Gameng said they needed modern assault rifles instead of long-barreled M16 Armalite rifles that are ineffective in close quarters combat.

The M16 entered US Army service in 1963 in the jungles of South Vietnam.

The SWAT officers belonging to the Manila Police District (MPD) also said that they were not confident of the old bullet-proof vests they were wearing.

“Kasi po may expiration iyon. Every 3 or 5 years, dapat pinapalitan iyon (They have an expiration date. They should be replaced every 3 or 5 years,” one MPD SWAT member said. “Iyung sinusuot po namin ngayon, hindi po kami sigurado na bullet-proof pa iyon, salin-salin na.” (We are not sure if the vests that we have are still bullet-proof. They have been used by many other officers.)”

He added that the vests they had did not have special plating that could stop bullets from assault rifles.

Mendoza, who was armed with an M16 rifle during the crisis, repeatedly shot his hostages and police officers who tried to enter the bus.

The SWAT officers also said they had no night-vision goggles during the incident.

‘Self-training’

Gameng, who was among SWAT team leaders relieved from their posts after the August 23 incident, told the IIRC that they hold “self-training” sessions.

“Iyung ibang training po namin, kami lang. Kami-kami na po ang nagte-train sa amin,” he said.

Another SWAT officer revealed that said his last formal marksmanship training organized by the Philippine National Police headquarters was held way back in 2004.

“Self-practice na lang po (on marksmanship),” he added.

They revealed that they did a simulation of the bus assault 6 times before receiving the order to take down Mendoza.

“All 3 teams did the simulation exercise,” one officer said, adding that it took them only 15 minutes in each exercise to end a hostage situation.

However, they admitted that they did not know that the Hong Thai tour bus’ window was made of fiber glass, which made it difficult for them to enter the vehicle.

They also failed to open the bus’ door because a dead man’s body blocked it.

The IIRC has asked the MPD SWAT command to submit a list of its team members, training program, and inventory of equipment as part of the multi-sectoral task force’s investigation into the hostage drama where 8 tourists from Hong Kong died.