MANILA, Philippines - The younger brother of slain hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza on Monday said he asked for help from the media during a critical moment in the August 23 hostage crisis because he was afraid of what other policemen would do to him if he was arrested.

SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza said he ran towards waiting media workers near the command post in Rizal Park after he heard then Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim tell other policemen to take him away. This was after one of the police negotiators told the mayor that Mendoza should be charged as an accessory to the hostage crisis.

"Ang sabi niya (Lim), pag nagtuloy ang hostage-taking, isama niyo na yan (What Lim said was: 'If the hostage-taking continues, he should be included)," Mendoza told a multi-sectoral panel investigating the hostage incident.

Mendoza said he became afraid after hearing those words because of the veiled threat.

"Matagal na rin po ako sa serbisyo at ang ganung mga salita ay nakakatakot sa amin. Hindi po maayos. Kung maayos po, dapat idaan nila ako sa labas at sabihing may kaso ako. Wala namang sinabi na may kaso ako e. Kung malinis ang intensyon nilang walang masamang gagawin sa akin, hindi nila ako idadaan sa gilid," he said.

(I have been in the service for a long time and those kinds of words are very scary for us policemen. It's not alright. If it was alright, they should have brought me right outside and told me that I was being charged. Nobody told me I was being charged. If their intentions were pure and they had no plans to harm me, they wouldn't have brought me out the backdoor.)

Mendoza was one of several resource persons summoned to testify on Monday before a 5-man panel investigating the tragic hostage-taking incident in Manila last August 23.

Mendoza's arrest, which was aired live by broadcast media on the night of the hostage-taking, has been cited as one of the factors that pushed the hostage-taker to start firing at his hostages inside the hijacked tourist bus.

A total of 9 people, including the hostage-taker, were killed in the incident.

Brother asked to join negotiators

In his testimony, Mendoza said he was not in police uniform when he went to the scene of the hostage-taking before noon of August 23 because his shift in the Manila Traffic Bureau had yet to start.

He said he tried to approach the hijacked tourist bus during the early part of the crisis so he could persuade his brother to stop the hostage-taking. One of the negotiators, Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador, stopped Mendoza and took his service firearm - a 9mm Beretta.

Mendoza said he and the hostage-taker's daughter, Mary Grace, offered to become negotiators but was rejected by the hostage-taker.

The traffic cop said he was able to talk to the hostage-taker before the 3 p.m. deadline and dissuaded him from harming the hostages. At that time, Vice-Mayor Isko Moreno was already working on the hostage-taker's demand that his motion for reconsideration be immediately reviewed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Mendoza said Mayor Lim arrived at the command post in Rizal Park past 5 p.m. and ordered him to join negotiators Salvador and Orlando Yebra in bringing the Ombudsman's letter to the hostage-taker.

Argument over the gun

Mendoza said he was carrying the umbrella when he escorted Salvador and Yebra in bringing the Ombudsman's letter to his brother in the hijacked bus.

He said his brother was angry with the contents of the letter and reiterated that he wanted to be reinstated in the service and would voluntarily surrender if he got what he wanted.

It was during this point that Mendoza told his brother that Salvador had yet to return his service firearm. "Ang sabi ko, 'Tol hindi pa po binabalik yung baril ko' (I said: 'Tol, they haven't returned my gun)," he said.

He said his brother got angry and demanded that the police return his younger brother's firearm. He also said his brother fired a warning shot while they were leaving the area.

Asked why he would say such a statement during the negotiation, Mendoza said: "He's my older brother. Pag walang-wala ako, nagsusumbong ako sa kanya."

He said Yebra also got angry with him and mentioned that he was not helping in the negotiation. He said the chief negotiator even mentioned that Mendoza could be charged as an accessory in the crime.

He also denied Yebra's accusation that he told his brother not to give in until police had returned his firearm.

Arrest and aftermath

Upon their return to the command post, Yebra immediately recommended that Mendoza be charged as an accessory.

For his part, Mendoza said he asked Manila Police District chief Rodolfo Magtibay another chance to talk to his brother because he was worried about his brother's mental state when he fired a warning shot.

Lim, Magtibay, Yebra and other police officials met briefly before deciding on taking Mendoza away from the command post.

Mendoza said a certain Colonel Po was wary of arresting him since there were a lot of reporters outside the command post. He said it was Lim who ordered that he be taken out the backdoor of the police station, away from the prying eyes of the media.

"When I stepped out of the police station, two cops in uniform placed their hands on my shoulders and started escorting me out. It was dark and raining. I got scared. They were going to put me in the van. I thought something bad would happen to me so I ran to the media and asked for help," he said.

Mendoza's arrest was aired live by major television networks and was seen by the hostage-taker on a TV inside the hijacked bus. The incident allegedly triggered the hostage-taker to start shooting inside the bus.

'Wasted medals, commendations'

During Monday's hearing, a friend of the hostage-taker described the slain cop as a "principled man" who distinguished himself during the early part of his career while the country was under martial law.

Retired policeman Robert Agojo said Mendoza was a decorated police officer who gained the respect of his peers during his early years in the police force. These commendations, he said, assured him that Mendoza would be able to beat the criminal and administrative charges filed against him before the Office of the Ombudsman.

In his testimony, Agojo said he was able to contact Mendoza 4 times during the August 23 hostage crisis after Magtibay gave him Mendoza's cell phone number.

For his part, Gregorio Mendoza said his brother was not a violent man. He said his brother took it hard when he was dismissed from the service after several decades in the police force.

"May hinanakit kasi siya. Walang hustisya sa kanya at gusto lang niya magbago yun at maparating sa kinauukulan ang tamang proseso at legal na pamamaraan ng pagtanggal sa kanya," he said.

Gregorio said he regretted that police disallowed Mendoza's family, including his daughter and wife, from speaking to Mendoza during the hostage crisis. "If he had seen all of us asking him, maybe there would be no bloodshed," he said.

He, however, added that he would not have objected if the negotiators had tried to grab Mendoza and even kill him to end the hostage crisis.

Agojo said he regretted that Mendoza ended his career in disgrace after a distinguished career. "Sinayang niya ang medalya niya at commendation niya," he said.