MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Gregorio Honasan expressed support for the Hong Kong police's participation in the investigation of the tourist bus hostage crisis as the Aquino?s government?s gesture of transparency towards the Chinese.

"The objective is transparency in the conduct of investigations to assure China and Hong Kong that we are serious and determined to discover the root causes of the incident and trying to prevent similar incidents of violence from ever happening again," said Honasan in a text message.

But Honasan said the Hong Kong police should observe the international protocol for cross border investigations.

In the resumption of the Senate probe on the hostage crisis this week, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. said they would focus on the final interview of hostage taker Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza with RMN radio.

"Based on the excerpts of the interview, he knew what is happening outside because of the TV monitor inside the bus. It is absurd that the authorities overlooked this matter when they drastically arrested the brother of the hostage taker," said Revilla.

Also, Revilla said the Senate would look into the attitude of the Manila police who looked "gun shy" in taking down one of their own.

"I also saw video footages of the hostage drama and apparently, several times there were clear shots of the hostage-taker; snipers should have used these opportunities to immobilize him. We know that the hostage taker is a colleague of the authorities involved. Most if not all knew him. We want to know if their duty as a cop superseded their sympathy to their fellow policeman," said Revilla.