Language issues will be dealt with 'later'
The Coroner's Court says it will handle 'later on' the matter of language in the Manila hostage inquest.
In response to a South China Morning Post query about audio clips played in court that featured Tagalog, a Filipino dialect, Coroner Michael Chan Pik-kiu yesterday said the court 'would handle this matter later on'.
On Thursday, the court played two audio clips - of 23 and 16 minutes- from an interview between two radio reporters and gunman Rolando Mendoza, mostly in Tagalog.
An English translation was given only to the coroner, lawyers, the jury and other interested parties. Neither the witness nor the media had a copy.
The coroner said: 'I didn't understand it; the witness also didn't understand it.' The clips were played so the witness could 'hear what was happening at that moment'.
He said clips were translated into English 'whenever necessary' and a certified translation was available.
