Inquiry on Manila siege expected by Friday

Justice secretary Leila de Lima said at least 10 officials, police and journalists will be charged with criminal and administrative offences. She said investigators also believed that the victims could have been shot by the hostage-taker who had then shot himself.

The failed attempt to rescue the hostages, who were held for hours on a bus by an armed former policeman, angered officials in Hong Kong and mainland China, straining relations with the Philippines.

The outcome of an official inquiry into the incident is expected to be known on Friday.

De Lima, who is heading the investigation, said “We expect the president to act on the basis of our recommendation,” adding that the recommendation to seek charges is "based on the evaluation of the actions, the non-action, the missteps, the lapses, the negligence, the incompetence" of those involved.

Last week, de Lima said there was a strong possibility that at least some of the hostages may have been accidentally killed by "friendly fire". However, on Thursday she said "based on the survivors' accounts, they were really killed by the hostage-taker.

Disgraced ex-policeman Rolando Mendoza, 55, hijacked a bus on 23 August, armed with an assault rifle, in an attempt to get back the job he lost in 2009 for extortion and threat-making.