MANILA — In the face of growing Chinese anger, Philippine officials acknowledged failings in how the police handled a 12-hour hostage standoff on a tourist bus, which unfolded on live television and ended with the deaths of eight passengers from Hong Kong and the armed captor, a former police officer.
The growing criticism of the police response underscored what may be an early test for President Benigno S. Aquino III, who was elected in a landslide this spring. Chinese officials said they were appalled by the killings, and the chief executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang, complained that he had been unable to reach Mr. Aquino throughout the crisis.
In Beijing, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said the government demanded a “thorough investigation” and full disclosure of the results as soon as possible.
In Hong Kong, flags flew at half-staff on Tuesday, and protesters gathered outside the Philippine Consulate near the downtown financial center. Much of the fiercest criticism was focused on the length of time the police allowed the situation to continue before raiding the bus, and the extensive live news coverage, which the gunman was able to watch on a monitor inside the bus, robbing the police of any element of surprise.
“It was the mishandling of the situation that caused this to happen,” Alberto Lim, the Philippine secretary of tourism, acknowledged in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It is really tragic for the country as a whole.”
The Philippine interior secretary, Jesse Robredo, told the newspaper The Inquirer that the authorities and the Philippine National Police, or P.N.P., shared responsibility for the failings.
“We should be very forthright,” Mr. Robredo said. “We — not only P.N.P., it’s everyone involved in the incident — recognize that we lack equipment. We could have been better trained, better equipped, and there should have been better response.”
A police spokesman, Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz, also admitted that the force was inadequately trained and equipped, and said that relations with the news media had broken down, according to the BBC.
The standoff began on Monday morning when a former police officer, Rolando Mendoza, 55, seized a tourist bus carrying 25 people in order to protest his dismissal last year on extortion charges. He released nine tourists early on. He was armed with an M-16 assault rifle, but officials said they did not regard him as a terrorist, and the police held back as the hours passed.
Mr. Mendoza appeared to exploit the live coverage by posting placards on the bus windows specifically addressed to the news media. He even gave an interview to a radio station. As night fell, negotiations grew tense.
Shortly after the live broadcasts from the scene showed a brother of Mr. Mendoza’s being detained, he opened fire inside the bus.
The bus driver escaped, leaping from a window. He ran, screaming that everyone was dead. That finally prompted the police to storm the bus.
Survivors recalled hiding while Mr. Mendoza shot at the tour group. One told reporters that her husband tried to halt the gunman but was shot and killed, as were two of her children.
In some quarters, there was speculation that police officers used to a culture of graft and favoritism might have had a level of sympathy for Mr. Mendoza that blinded them to the seriousness of the situation. Mr. Mendoza claimed that he had not been given a fair shake as he fought the charges of extortion and that he only wanted the chance to be heard.
Ian Bryson, an analyst in Singapore with the consultancy firm Control Risks, pointed out that the police were not centrally controlled and said, “Clearly, the message of Mr. Mendoza’s grievances gained traction within members of the P.N.P.”
News organizations faced a serious backlash.
“The candid, live coverage of the media provided the hostage taker real-time information on what the police was doing,” said Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research in Manila.
On Tuesday, one congressman said he would introduce legislation to allow the police to impose “news blackouts” during future crises, and the government said it was evaluating police guidelines governing the news media during hostage situations.
“We may have to talk to media to take into consideration the interest of the safety of the hostages, so our police will have the element of surprise,” said Mr. Robredo, the interior secretary. “There was a television set inside the bus. Unfortunately, Mendoza got a glimpse of what the police were up to. So we lost our element of surprise.”
Deep damage to the country’s tourism industry is expected. Hong Kong — source of more than 140,000 tourists here annually — issued its highest-level travel warning for the Philippines, asking tour groups to avoid the country and advising Hong Kong residents to leave immediately.
Last year the Philippines recorded three million tourists visiting the country, a number it wants to increase as it tries to dig itself out of the global economic downturn.
At least one hotel in Manila that caters mainly to tourists from Hong Kong has 300 canceled room reservations, said Mr. Lim, the tourism secretary.
Carlos H. Conde reported from Manila, and Kevin Drew from Hong Kong.
