The bloody hostage drama in Manila is over.
Law enforcers stormed a tourist bus that had been hijacked by a disguntled former police officer -- identified as Rolando Mendoza.
Patricia Estevez, Foreign Affairs Editor with The Philippine Star, was quoted by television channels as saying that 8 hostages and Mendoza had been killed during the operation.
Seven hostages were seen coming out safely from the bus.
The law enforcers broke the windows in an attempt to enter the stalled bus, television footage showed.
Mendoza had taken 25 tourists hostage inside a bus in
Mendoza, armed with an assault rifle, initially released two women followed by another woman with three children and a 73-year-old man, all from Hong Kong, and later two Filipino men.
Police confirmed that there were 25 passengers in the bus, including 22 tourists from Hong Kong, three Filipinos, the bus driver, an interpreter and a photographer.
Mendoza had been dismissed from service for extortion and forcing a chef to swallow 'shabu', a Japanese variant of pot having mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine.
He was demanding that the authorities clear his name and that he be reinstated in service.
