At the height of controversy surrounding police brutality allegedly involving a police officer torturing a suspected robber, the seeming incompetence of the police has come to light once more, this time to the international community and earning sharp criticism from folks here in Singapore. The Philippine National Police's reputation may be tarnished, but at a time when the PNP was given the chance to shine before the international community, its name sunk even deeper.
No wonder local Hong Kong people were quick to criticize the Philippine police force as they quickly trooped to social networking sites in solidarity and expressed sympathy to those who perished and were traumatized by the incident. They see how the Hong Kong Police act on situations like this and come out as heroes. They may not be perfect but they get the job done most of the time.
Last night thousands of households were glued to their television sets like us, anxiously waiting for developments in a hostage crisis that went awfully wrong. As I write this blog this morning, I am sure people are heading towards their daily supply of tabloids to get a clearer understanding of what took place in Manila. Maybe questions remain after reading the news stories. Why a police officer no longer in service still got hold of an M-16 rifle? Why it took the police so long to address the drama? Is the media coverage of the hostage taking partly to blame?
Filipino's ask how could an award-winning police officer end up as the bad guy? The hostage taker Rolando Mendoza, was honored in 1986 but dismissed a few years ago over alleged involvement in drug-related crimes and extortion, police said. He took the hostages in an effort to win his job back and have his name cleared.
Maybe it's in the peace-loving patience and easygoing nature of us Filipino's that saw the police wait 12 staggering hours before making a move. If it were in China or the United States, the hostage taker would have been killed much sooner. At times Mr Mendoza looked out of the front door of the bus putting himself at a vantage point perfect for snipers to pull the trigger. And who knows, if the driver did not escape and screamed patay na silang lahat!(everybody is dead!), the hostage drama would have stayed in stalemate.
The new regime of President Noynoy Aquino presented new hope for the Filipino people as he was inaugurated barely two months ago in Quirino Grandstand. That venue would also become the scene of a bloody end to a failed rescue operation of foreign tourists. SCMP, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang expressed his disappointment over the outcome. The Aquino government issued a statement, but Hong Kong people probably need more answers.
The hostage drama took place in Manila, where supposedly the best equipped and properly trained special forces are ready for deployment. If it happened in a fourth class municipality in the middle of a province in Mindanao, there's a bit of an excuse. Such a messy outcome led to some Filipino's including yours truly to question the integrity and capability of the police force by asking if the real meaning of SWAT is Sorry Wala Akong Training (Sorry I Don't Have Training). And with the arrest of congressman Ronald Singson in Hong Kong for possession of cocaine in recent weeks, Filipino's (at least in social networking sites) offered Singson as the pawn:
Dear Hong Kong,
You can take it out on Ronald Singson.
Be our guest.
Regards,
The Philippines
Hong Kong is a lucrative source of affluent outbound travelers. But the Philippines can no longer expect visitors from the former British colony after a travel ban was issued last night. Such move results in travel agencies taking Boracay, Cebu or Puerto Galera special offers off display. But there could be other repercussions. Filipino domestic helpers may expect a change in how their Hong Kong employers treat them. Filipino tourist's visiting Hong Kong could spend more time talking to immigration officers. We'll see.
No PR job can restore the severely tarnished name of the Philippine National Police in the eyes of Hong Kong people. Too bad there are members of the police force who "serve and protect" the Philippines the right way diligently, yet helplessly find themselves getting dragged into this mess.
As for the Philippine National Police Manila Police District-SWAT) here are 15 ways to totally f**ck up the Manila Hostage Situation:
1. Spend more than 10 hours sitting on your ass without asking for help from a well equipped, well trained team that could've done infinitely better!
2. Hostage taker opens bus door. clear shot to; at least disable the hostage taker. sniper scratching itchy backside or doing something else.. nice.
3. No media lockdown whatsoever.. Hostage taker has real time updates of what the police are doing should he use a portable tv, a tv capable phone, a radio or an internet capable phone. wait.. isnt there a TV on the bus too! really great! hostage taker advantage = 10 police = 0
"talk about fanning the flames! the local media is just as guilty for the deaths of the hostages as the hostage taker in this case.. I hope there's a special place in hell for them."
4. No intel, police have no idea how many hostage taker's are there and what their firearms and positions are. Directional Sound Recorders? Infrared/Thermal Sights? Nope! too "techie" for these guys.
5. Shoot the tires of the bus where hostage taker and hostages are making the situation more desperate for the hostage taker without any clear advantage for the police. How do you plan to negotiate with the hostage taker when you've just shown your intentions?! DUH?!
6. Bring the hostage taker's brother to the scene to aid the negotiator then proceed to harass him in front of international media and within sight of the bus enraging the hostage taker and destabilizing the situation. So much for negotiations.
"and when hostage taker demands that his brother be released or else, ignore it! sweating man on the ground is definitely more important than a man with gun and hostages on bus."
7. Make an assault on the bus with media reporting every move like its f**k*ng Pinoy Big Brother. yeah right, so much for the element of surprise too!
8. Assault the bus with no clear and concise battle plan beyond opening the door. Really a winning combination: "let's open the door and shoot down the hostage taker." grrrrrreeeeaaaat!!!
9. On top of that, no one bothers with controlled plastic explosives on this one to breach the bus. No flash-bangs or night vision either which could've given immense advantage to the police. NOPE! they prefer it ala Chuck Norris style with axes and handguns instead, sweet!
10. Lose the element of surprise further and more valuable time by using an axe to breach the bus' windows and door. send a SWAT member with a beer belly trying to squeeze in the bus too! really inspiring.
"the door of a bus is designed to withstand 50Gs of instantaneous force or more. A hammer will do nothing to break it in one hit. There's an emergency lever under the bus that can be used to open the door. Nobody knew about it. Instead, they proceeded to hammer all sides of the f**k*ng bus like it's a m*th*rf**kin' pinata!
11. After all the element of surprise is lost beyond all hope, dont think of shining a bright searchlight in front or side of bus to at least shed some light on the situation inside the bus and give police situational advantage. but nope, these guys would rather play pin the tail on the donkey.
12. Realize after 30 minutes that the door can be forced off by using a chain connected to a moving car.
13. Abandon the bright but frustratingly late idea when rear emergency door is forced open. Apparently one open door is better than two for these policemen. Two entries could've given the police a positional advantage in a skirmish inside the bus but no.. one door is enough.
14. with the police having no situational advantage whatsoever, proceed to give more advantage to the hostage taker by turning on the vicinity lights. now, that's bright!
15. Think of the tear gas idea after a gazillion minutes of trying to hack down the bus doors with axes. then proceed to storm bus without gas masks. tear gas advantage nullified. nice!
Luckily, some hostages lived through the nightmare.. not because of police competence, but because the hostage taker didn't kill them all even though he was given more than 30 minutes by the police to do so.
Moreover, the hostage taker wasn't asking for a billion dollars and an escape helicopter. He was asking to be given back his job and benefits. If the negotiator and the government at least gave some hope to the hostage taker that his grievances would be listened to, there would've been no dead hostages and all the advantage would switch over to the police and the government "AFTER" the hostage crisis!
Is this the best our country's police forces can do?! Are these the people that are supposed to protect us?! Was this the best plan that our vaunted SWAT team could come up with?! Jesus Harold Christ! Even Sgt. Hondo can't take this..I've played harder more well though-out Airsoft Wargames and Counterstrike games with my 10 year old son!
...so when its not an ordinary non-air-con bus, we're out of luck ei?
Oh dear Santa, i'm sending you an early Christmas wish: "please, please, please make someone accountable for this bloody fiasco!
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