Bus hostage-taker identified

MANILA, Philippines - The family of the alleged robber who held a student hostage on a bus in Manila found out about his death on Facebook.

The robber’s younger brother, Oliver Pineda, said this yesterday as he identified his sibling before the Manila Police District yesterday.

The slain hostage-taker was Ivan John Pineda of Romblon. He was staying in Tondo, Manila and was survived by his three children.

Pineda was not a robber, according to Oliver, 37. The latter further claimed that Pineda had no criminal record.

“He was a good man,” said Oliver of his brother, whom he last saw a year ago.

Police investigators, meanwhile, are checking Pineda’s record to verify Oliver’s claims.

According to Oliver, he found out about Pineda’s death through a Facebook message sent by his cousin.

The cousin, whom he declined to name, asked him to go to Manila to verify if Pineda and the hostage-taker were the one and the same person.

After positively identifying Pineda, Oliver, who works as a vendor, said he wanted to claim his older brother’s body from Funeral Floresco in Paco but he has no money.

Based on the National Bureau of Investigation’s medico-legal report, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, Pineda died of gunshot wounds in the back and abdomen.