Tragedy in Philippines

This was a fail attempt by the Philippines government/police force to save the hostages of a tourist group. I have heard many sides to the story:
1) Killer Mendoza hijacked tourbus in an exchange for his old job back, and he started killing hostages as he mentally broke down when the police tried to storm in and secure the tourbus.
2) Killer Mendoza was wrongfully convicted as he just wanted to connect to the media in exchange for the hostage. The gov't intervened as they were worried he will spill the corruption details from the internal structure within, there were rumors that the hostages killed were from bullets outside the bus.

Regardless of which scenario is right or wrong; I think that the scenario can be handled much better to prevent this tragedy. Looking at the clips, it is ridiculous to see a small truck trying to pull doors open, light armored policeman trying to storm bus by slapping the front lights, failed attempts to break the window, laughter in the background of the rescue force, and fail negotiators. Where is the sniper when they had a clean shot at the killer, or where are the ladders required to storm the bus with smoke/stun grenades? It is sad that the event had to cost 8 lives that were with their families having a vacation.