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Philippine police officers contributed to the deaths of eight hostages in the Manila bus bloodbath an inquest jury said yesterday, ruling that they were unlawful killings.
The jury said the police had among other things failed to stop people other than negotiators from contacting gunman Rolando Mendoza and had taken too long to subdue him.
The verdict came at the end of a 28-day hearing before Michael Chan Pik-kiu into the shooting of the seven tourists and their guide on August 23 by sacked policeman Mendoza, who was demanding his job back. The hostage drama, which was played out live on TV around the world, horrified Hong Kong and badly damaged the city's relations with the Philippines.
The Hong Kong government decided to conduct its own investigation in response to the public outcry.
Jurors returned a narrative verdict - a description of the events - for the first time in a Hong Kong inquest. This allowed them to state whether they agreed or disagreed with a list of statements prepared by the court. They could then decide what happened in the incident and what factors contributed to the deaths. 
Tse Chi-kin, elder brother of slain tour guide Masa Tse Ting-chunn, felt the verdict was 'fair enough'. 
But he said: 'Most of the Filipino witnesses did not testify in court. This would to a certain extent affect the evidence and truth found in court.'
Survivor Yik Siu-ling, who was shot in the face,  said she was disappointed that the inquest did not establish whether any of the hostages were hit  by stray bullets. 
Yik has bullet fragments embedded in her chest, which she is unwilling to have removed - although police said they would be valuable evidence - as they did not threaten her health and she had already undergone numerous operations on her shattered jaw.
'But I have been thinking a lot recently,' she said. 'If the Philippines cannot give us justice, I am willing to suffer [surgery] one more time.' 
Coroner Chan expressed his condolences to families of those killed and thanked survivors, especially Yik and Chan Kwok-chu, who were both seriously injured, for giving evidence. 
In 51/2-hours of deliberation, the jury decided the breakdown of negotiations that resulted when the gunman found out police had lied to him - as well as the arrest of his younger brother, which he saw on a TV set on the bus - contributed to the deaths.
The inquest heard earlier that negotiators had told Mendoza they had returned his brother Gregorio's gun when they had not. 
The jury agreed that Philippine police officers did not stop people such as journalists Erwin Tulfo and Michael Rogas and the gunman's brother from contacting him. Also, the police did not ask released hostages about the gunman's emotions or the situation on the bus. 
The jury decided that the police's slow efforts to subdue the gunman - it took an hour and 20 minutes before he was shot dead - had hampered the chances of Tse and Jessie Leung Song-yi, 14, being treated and saved. 
An expert said these two hostages had the highest chance of survival if treated promptly - at 57 per cent and up to 60 per cent, respectively. 
An inquest in the Philippines in September concluded that all eight were killed by Mendoza's bullets. It recommended that several of those involved face criminal or administrative charges. But Philippine President Benigno Aquino called only for administrative sanctions to be filed against four police officers, the mayor of Manila, Alfredo Lim, and a deputy ombudsman.
Outside court yesterday, Coroner's officer Jat Sew-tong SC said they were satisfied with the inquest. 'We have basically done what the coroner's court can do. For some questions like who should take responsibility, it is not the scope of the hearing.'
He said the absence of most of the Filipino witnesses summoned to testify would not have affected the result because most of them had provided written statements.
The jury agreed with 40 of the 42 statements about the series of events on the day of the drama and factors contributing to the deaths. But they were unsure if the gunman did tell the hostages at 2pm that they would be released an hour later.  
The jury was unsure if Masa Tse could have survived, if he had been resuscitated within 20 to 30 minutes after he was shot. There was also uncertainty about whether medics had left his body unattended outside the bus and at what time.
Tse Chi-kin's lawyer Hectar Pun Hei said these uncertainties would not affect their future pursuit of compensation as the inquest had already established the four factors contributing to the guide's death. 
Tse Chi-kin said he would consider lodging a civil claim with other survivors and victim families against the Philippine government after seeking legal advice. He hoped the Hong Kong government would help.
'We are only an ordinary family. There will be difficulty if we need to confront a government or a regime.'
A government spokesman said the inquest had been open, fair and professional. It respected the findings but was 'indeed very disappointed' that most of the key Filipino witnesses had not agreed to testify.



HK inquest faults Manila police for hostage slaughter