The Philippine Online Chronicles

It was surreal. A former police officer, Rolando Mendoza removed from the Philippines' National Police Force, because of charges filed against him for alleged drug related crimes and extortion, took hostage a bus full of Hong Kong tourists.

Ironically, Mendoza was reported to have been awarded for his performance as an outstanding policeman and cited for his honesty.

The Huffington Post on the other hand reported that he and five others were charged with robbery, extortion and grave threats after a Manila hotel chef complained, alleging the police falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money.

Like a movie

The rain was pouring when the assault on the bus by the Philippine National Police's SWAT team took place. It looked like something out of a movie. As policemen were sledgehammering the door to gain entrance, people on Twitter laughed out loud at the sight, despite tension at what may happen next.

It was quite obvious, the lack of training and equipment the police have. This despite the fact that raiding a bus is one of the hardest things to do, as one tweet said.

The Philippine National Police Manual PNPM-DO-DS-3-1 as published by the government states:

“In negotiating for the release of a hostage, the security of the hostage will always be paramount.” The regulations stipulate that a Crisis Management Task Group be activated immediately, under the leadership of only one Ground Commander, to secure and isolate the incident from unauthorized persons, and to direct witnesses to a safe location and record their names, addresses and other informatio.

Sure enough, in the somber statement issued by the President, it was protocol they followed by the situation rapidly deteriorated.

The 12-hour stand off, the early release of some of the hostages looked like it was doing well. Everything went south by sundown.

The Hong Kong government's leader, Donald Tsang remarked, "The way it was handled, particularly the outcome, I find is disappointing."

If you read Huffington Posts' comments, they kind of represent what's spot on. Knightoftheroundtable wrote:

Wah, wah, I want my job back. You cannot fire me for breaking the law, I am the law....wah wah. Folks if you think this guy is nuts, think again. The law enforcement agencies in Philippines [have] always been exceedingly crooked and sadistic. This guy was a small player compared to what happens every day in the Philippines. You will be hard put to find honest police officers in Philippines. He may of thought he was being treated unfairly by the powers to be who are much worse then him. Third world countries are known for corruption in law enforcement, try our neighbor Mexico for an example. Sadly the innocent always suffer at the hands of these brutes.

Hong Kong has declared it unsafe to travel to the Philippines. Can we blame them?

Crime is rampant in the city.

No one feels safe walking the streets. No one trusts the police. Everyone thinks they are incompetent or worse, are criminals themselves.

Is that a fair assessment?

It is terrible to generalize.

The streets are open for people to go around wielding weapons. However, an obvious question persists as to why Mendoza had access to guns, despite being discharged from the PNP.

The police looked bad on television. One can really not blame the hired help -- the SWAT team, for instance. If heads must roll then it must be from the upper echelons of PNP. Why is the police in such a sorry state?

Nobody trusts the police because corruption is pandemic of the entire legal system. No one expects justice that cannot be bought. The institutional failure in the justice system is rampant. Isn't that why Aquino won in the elections, because he plans to set things right? To not only curb corruption but by extension fix the justice system?

The poor handling of media

It is quite obvious that there is blood, too, on the media's hands. They dignify everything, even the crap.

It is as if Media doesn't know -- or care to know where to draw the line. As@prudencemadness on twitter noted, "yes we deserve the truth. But maybe not so much as it can hinder operations."

If you read guidelines for covering hostage-taking crisis, prison uprisings, terrorist actions, you will find that Philippine Media broke all of those:

• Always assume that the hostage taker, gunman, or terrorist has access to the reporting.
• Avoid describing with words or showing with still photography and video any information that could divulge the tactics or positions of SWAT team members.
• Fight the urge to become a player in any standoff, hostage situation, or terrorist incident. Journalists should become personally involved only as a last resort and with the explicit approval of top news management and the consultation of trained hostage negotiators on the scene.
• Be forthright with viewers, listeners, or readers about why certain information is being withheld if security reasons are involved.

Those are just some of the points.  I suggest everyone read the full article.

Would it have been too much to ask for the media to go on a news blackout, at least until the crisis was averted or at least took cues from the government by keeping quiet?

The nation's image across the world lies broken. Some may argue that that is such a tactless, tasteless thing to think about. At least seven people died at the hands of one man who held a nation hostage. Mendoza is dead, we shouldn't let him keep us hostage forever. Life goes on.

As a nation, we have blood on our hands, and business goes on. We put on a face with the brightest smile for the whole world to see. The mistake would be that behind the smile, we forget to fix what's entirely wrong with out nation. To fail to act, we dishonor the dead who died at the hands of this madman. We dishonor the dead of Maguindanao, and all the nameless faces erased by extra judicial killings.

An act of contrition

In Manila Hostage tragedy, I asked if the police were better equipped, better trained, could things have ended differently? Could lives have been saved, with a less talkative media?

The public needs to know what happened and why this drama ended in tragedy. An objective, impartial assessment is needed and when we learn that then that is the moment we begin to right wrongs in this country.

Blood was spilled. Was it the police's fault? Was it the media's fault? Was it our fault? We already know our institutions must be rebuilt. We already know before this tragedy, our police could be better.  It was partly why Aquino was voted in: to get the nation on the straight road.  We already know that a more responsible media is essential.  Hopefully as the government investigates in the next few days, we will know the details and once we have learned all we can learn from this tragic incident, can a nation rise above the ashes, stronger, better? Only then can we properly honor the memory of those who died at the hands of Rolando Mendoza.

Image courtesy AFP/Yahoo.