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SCMP Reporter

A younger brother of the gunman in the deadly Manila bus hijacking last August is ready to testify via video link in the Hong Kong inquest, the corner said yesterday. He cannot attend in person because he has not been able to get a Philippine passport.
Coroner Michael Chan Pik-kiu  said the Department of Justice  in the Philippines had yet to respond to a request to set up the video link.
It was the 18th day of an inquest into the deaths of eight Hongkongers held hostage by sacked police officer Rolando Mendoza  on August 23.
 The court heard earlier that the gunman started shooting hostages when he saw on a television inside the tour bus that his brother, Gregorio,  had been arrested. 
Chan said Hong Kong's Department of Justice  sent a letter seeking co-operation by its Filipino counterparts but they had not replied and the court needed their agreement. 
'Will they actually reply? The impression I have is that in the past their answer is never definite ... I don't know how they will reply or when they will reply,' Chan said. 
The Coroner's Court was notified last week of Gregorio Mendoza's intention to give evidence, in a letter from the Chinese Embassy in Manila. 
 Mendoza was the only one of 116 Filipino witnesses summoned to testify to agree to give evidence in person. But Chan said Mendoza could not get a passport to leave.
Chan said Hong Kong police were ready to go to the Philippines at any time to set up the video link.
A Philippine inquiry in October over the incident concluded that all eight hostages were killed by the gunman, but recommended that 12 individuals be held responsible for the botched rescue attempt.
Yesterday, Hong Kong pathologists testified that autopsies carried out in Manila and the embalming of bodies affected second autopsies carried out in Hong Kong. 
Senior forensic pathologist Dr Ng Chung-ki,  who did a second autopsy on Ken Leung Kam-wing,  58, testified that he mistakenly thought Leung had three gunshot wounds instead of two. He was not told that Philippine Chief Police Inspector Joseph Palmero,  who did the first autopsy, made an incision on Leung's back to retrieve bullet fragments. 
Also, Ng was unable to see the wound tracks because his organs had been removed. But he said he could still rely on the injuries to Leung's ribcage.  Leung was shot once in an arm and once in the chest, which pierced his lungs, Ng said. He would have died within minutes.
Ng also disputed the first autopsy report of three fractures in Yeung Yee-wa,  44, who was shot once in her left shoulder.  Chief Inspector Jesille Baluyot,  who did the first one, identified three fractures but Ng found no breaks. Baluyot wrote that Yeung's left collarbone was fractured but Ng said it was not. 
Relatives of Fu Cheuk-yan,  39, opted out of dissection in Manila. But one of Fu's three gunshot wounds was sewed up for embalmment, said Dr Ying Ho-wan,  acting senior forensic pathologist. The forceps used left marks around the wound.
Senior government chemist Bobbie Cheung Kwok-keung  testified that tour guide Masa Tse Ting-chunn,  31, was shot from the aisle as he was handcuffed near the bus door. Cheung excluded the possibility that Tse was hit by a bullet that came through the windscreen. 
The inquest continues today.



Testimony of gunman's brother hits snags