The nine mostly foreign hostages released in Monday’s hostage-taking incident in Manila are undergoing stress debriefing, a Malacañang official said.
The debriefing is being spearheaded by the departments of Tourism and Social Welfare and Development, said Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang in a text message.
Carandang said the freed hostages have been brought back to their hotel and are being provided free food and accommodation.
“[The Philippine government is] doing everything [it] can to help [the freed hostages] cope with the stressful situation and make the remainder of their stay as comfortable as possible," Carandang said.
The hostage-taker, dismissed police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, armed with an automatic rifle, held over 20 passengers of a tourist bus hostage near the Quirino Grandstand Monday morning. He is reportedly demanding his reinstatement to the police force.
Negotiations are ongoing for the 17 remaining hostages as of posting time. – Jam L. Sisante/KBK, GMANews.TV
