Last year, we had the Maguindanao Massacre, where the Ampatuan family allegedly murdered around 60 people, mostly from the Mangudadutu clan in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao Province. The legal part of that massacre is still unresolved, but now we have another massacre to talk about, the Manila Massacre. I’m talking about last week’s hostage situation in Manila where a bus load of tourists were taken hostage, and many ended up dead by the time that the whole scenario was played out.
Oh, people are not calling this the Manila Massacre, that’s my name for it. I mean why not, I think it’s fitting.
I am sure that almost all readers of this article know what happened, but in case you do not, I’ll make a quick recap of what happened. Basically, last Monday, August 23, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) officer, Rolando Mendoza, took a bus load of people hostage. He forced the bus driver to park the bus at the Quirino Grandstand, basically in an empty parking lot. He held the hostages for the better part of the day, something like 11 hours or so in all. Over the course of the day, some hostages (mostly Filipinos and Children) were released. Almost all of the remaining hostages in the bus were Chinese citizens from Hong Kong, people who were vacationing here in the Philippines. When all was finished, almost all of these Chinese were dead.
Firstly, let me say that bad things like this happen in any country, not only in the Philippines. In fact, I think that the may be even a little less common in the Philippines than some other places. However, that said, the situation was handled very ineptly by the Philippine Government. Hey, Governments, Police Departments and everybody else makes mistakes, and nothing can be done to bring those tourists back to life now. However, something can be done to stop a situation like this from happening again. Training is the biggest thing.
The BBC has a webpage that is an interview with Charles Shoebridge, who is a security analyst who used to work with Scotland Yard on incidents like this hostage situation. Shoebridge points out ten mistakes that he feels were made and could have caused the situation to turn out differently than it did. I won’t go into the mistakes here, I will let you read that article if you are so inclined.
I do want to talk, though, about some things that I have seen in the aftermath of the massacre, which I think the Philippines should seriously consider.
Firstly, there is a mad dash to find somebody to place the blame on. I mean, they want to find a single individual to blame, and it seems that then everything will be better. Frankly, in my opinion, this is not about a single person making a mistake. It’s a systemic problem. It is a lack of training. It is a lack of adequate equipment. It is most seriously a lack of adequate procedures in place. I mean, either there was no set of policies in place of what steps should be taken to deal with such a situation, or if such policies are in place, they are either inadequate, or they were not followed. This needs to be seriously addressed. In the past, during my years of living in the Philippines, there have been many times when people from other countries have come and offered training to the Philippine forces (Army and Police). I know of many instances where the USA has offered such assistance, and I also know of times when Australia has made such offers. I feel certain that other countries have offered such training as well. In every instance I can remember, many Filipinos get defensive and say that such training is not needed, and they already know what they are doing. A very nationalistic uproar. Such training is needed badly. I am not saying that Filipinos are not good, or other Nationalities are better people, or smarter than Filipinos are. I don’t believe that at all, but what I do believe is that in the area of such Police and Army operations, training would be beneficial.
The most troublesome problem that I see, and I have not seen this mentioned anywhere else, is that the biggest uproar in the Philippines is about how tourism will be impacted. There has been a lot of discussion about how the Philippines needs to show people in the rest of the world that this is an isolated incident and that the country is safe. I heard these comments just 12 hours or less after the incident happened. My God! How about at least waiting until the bodies of the dead are cold before worrying about tourism dollars. Look, yes, tourism will be impacted negatively due to what happened, but let’s mourn for the dead before we address that. It really troubles me deeply when the financial impact is the first thing that comes to mind while blood is still dripping from the bus at Quirino Grandstand. How about some respect for the dead and their families, some serious offers of condolences. I think in a month or so the Philippines can begin analyzing the impact on tourism.
One of the more serious blunders that I saw, in terms of further offending the families of the dead was that when it came time for the body of Mendoza to be put in his coffin, his coffin was draped with a Philippine Flag! When the Chinese saw this, they immediately lodged a protest with the Philippine Government, and rightly so. I mean, when a coffin is draped with a flag, it is generally a sign that the dead is being honored as a hero of his country. Mendoza was a former PNP Officer, but it would seem that his action of killing these hostages would eliminate any honor that he might have had from his police service. And, oh, do you know why he was no longer a Police Officer? He was fired due to corruption. Mendoza took hostages in an effort to get his job back, and he loudly protested that he was not guilty of such corruption charges. However, the act of hostage taking alone is enough to erase any honor that he deserved (or didn’t).
Frankly, this whole hostage situation was a real black eye for the Philippines. My fear is that the way it is being handled in the aftermath is going to blacken the other eye, which is not necessary.
I watched the video clips, if it wasn’t for the loss of life it would have been a comedy in the making , reminiscent of the keystone cops. Very sad for the victims & familys. This is what happens when you hire and promote on the basis of “connections” and not who’s qualified.
If you recall the Burmans..he was killed by a hail of indiscriminate friendly fire. Sadly I think I would fear the RP’s government interaction over the actions of a madman.
Hi brian – When I wrote the article, I considered mentioning the keystone cops aspect… but I didn’t want to be too insulting… 😉
BTW, when I saw this, I was constantly thinking of Martin Burnham… the similarities in the deaths are very apparent.
Brian,
When you said, “This is what happens when you hire and promote on the basis of ‘connections’ and not who’s qualified.” it reminded me of my niece who finished nursing school last year. We helped support her the last couple of years of her schooling. She is warm and loving and super intelligent. When I asked why she was having a problem finding a paid position, I was told she didn’t have a suitable “sponsor.” When I was told what a sponsor was, I went through the roof! Of all the problems in the Philippines, this has to be near the top of the list.
–James
Hi James – What your niece is encountering is part of the Kompadre system, which is a basic tenet of SIR, which is what Philippine Culture is all about. You can learn about the Kompadre System by reading my article about it.
Hi Bob – Yes, this was a most unfortunate situation. My heart goes out to the victims. I agree completely with you that training was sorely needed here. When I heard the length of time the hostages were held (over 11 hours) I thought are you kidding? A well-place sharpshooter could have ended this in minutes. However, a well-train hostage negotiator might have resolved this peacefully. I’ve heard the protests in Hong Kong via BBC and it’s understandable. I just hope this serves as a wake-up call for all those involved.
Hi Henry – There were certainly many, many chances to take the guy out with a single shot. I also believe that a lack of trained professional negotiators is a problem. I mean, they had the Vice Mayor of Manila negotiating with the guy… I am sure that he has not had training on the psychological aspects of negotiating with a person like this. The alarm bells have gone off many times over the years, Henry… but so far nobody ever woke up!
Hi, Bob:
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. That the hostage-taker was not taken right then and there, whether forcibly or compliantly, as he stood exposed at the open door of the bus as two negotiators were within an arm’s reach as shown in the picture was a perfect illustration of the PNP’s inadequate training, lack of standard procedure in dealing with a given situation, and inadequate equipment, as you have correctly pointed out – and why the PNP should swallow its overblown Filipino pride and seriously consider seeking external assistance in terms of training and procedures for their obviously inept police force.
The picture of the hostage-taker standing exposed at the open door of the bus is every SWAT sniper’s dream, but, of course, the PNP probably has nothing similar. Even if it has, the sniper, given that he has to buy his own ammunition, probably could not afford to buy ammunition for his rifle until next payday.
It is just unfortunate that an incident like this need to have happen in order for the PNP to wake up and recognize its shortcomings.
As regards the flag, I’m not really conversant about the proper use of the Philippine national flag, but I would agree with you initially about the impropriety of draping the hostage-taker’s coffin with the Filipino flag. That’s tantamount to adding insult to injury to the families of the Chinese tourists who lost their lives needlessly.
Good morning, John. Yeah, that picture showed a perfect opportunity to shoot Mendoza, or really, it would appear that the two negotiators there could have just reached over and grabbed him. It’s a real shame the way that the thing happened.
Regarding the flag, by the way, after Chinese protests the flag was ordered to be removed, and the officials here say that it never should have been there in the first place.
HI BOB
yes mate it was very sad to see that happen as the phill dont need it mate but as always the cops shot first and ask why latter on and by then it is to late as there will be ppl dead and die with out needing too…….
peter martin tassie
Hi Peter – Yes, very unfortunate.. that’s for certain!
Yes Bob;
Someone will be blamed, I’ll wager that the person blamed will be very low in the pecking order. The rest of the world is the same when the politicians feel the need to place blame, while they are ducking for cover.
I was further disheartened when it was reported that the Chinese were blaming the Filipino people, along with the Philippine Government. A truly sad situation.
Hi Paul – I don’t blame the Govts. of Hong Kong and China for being upset with the Philippine Government because mistakes were indeed made. However, we hear a lot of tales of Filipino workers and other overseas Filipinos being treated poorly by their employers and other people… that is really wrong! No way did any of those workers have any say in the situation, why should they be blamed. You are so right, it’s a truly bad situation.
It seems that many people from other Asian countries see citizens from the Philippines as being inferior. I am also shocked on seeing prejudice from some people from Luzon on people from the Visayan region.
I’ve seen that in this crisis too, Jack. Seems strange, don’t you think? Of course, almost all Filipinos are anti-Mindanao… so your last point doesn’t surprise me a bit!
Yes this was a major tragedy and I feel for those who are suffering from this event. With regards to regions Guys just remember we have that here in the US . NORTH vs SOUTH, West Coast etc. So Visayan vs Luzon or any other part of PI is not much of a stretch . I think that’s human nature. Don’t you. People always think where they are from is the best.
With regards to Training. It will never happen until the corruptions ends. Training takes money. Even in the US training at most companies needs to be forced on them. If it was not mandatory it would never happen. Same goes for Quality & Safety. Heck look at how the driving goes. The big difference that I see is that people have just accepted it in PI and feel helpless to change it. They are more focused on the next meal or other basic needs. Its easy for us to think as we do because our backgrounds are so different and we have the option of leaving. They dont. JMHO
Tom
TBD – Regionalism is stronger, imho, in the Philippines.
I seldom hear anything about The Philippines on the New York TV or radio station news but this incident made the world press, seems only the bad stuff does but I guess that is what sells. I felt it was unfortunate although understandable that China has blacklisted The Philippines as a tourist destination to their people. Another Government warning.
Indeed, Bob, bad news sells papers! I personally do not think that any kind of travel ban is warranted, but I am sure that there are a lot of hard feelings among the Chinese over the events that transpired last week.
Hi Bob- I think the least said about this very sad and unfortunate episode the better.
Regards.
Jim.
Hi Jim – I’m sorry to disagree… I have never been the type to think that problems can be solved or mistakes corrected by remaining silent. I think the only way to correct the problems and ensure a much lower chance of a similar incident in the future is through discussion, hashing out the problem, and coming up with remedies. I hope we can disagree and still be friendly about it.
Hi Bob- Don’t missunderstand me, where I was coming from is there has been enough said already on the subject and only time will tell if lessions have been learned.
Regards.
Jim.
Hi Jim – I am certainly not trying to speak out of turn here… today, though, is the first time I have even mentioned the subject on the site. We’ve never discussed it on the site before.
Hi Bob- Not just talking about your site in particular but everything thats been said about the incident since it has happened.
Regards.
Jim.
Hi Jim – Ah, I see. I understand your thoughts. Personally, though, I don’t feel that there is any harm in addressing it here.
Hi Bob,
When I heard he wanted his job back, I knew he must be crazy. How could they make him a police officer again after an act of terrorism. I wondered if the Police were reluctant to kill him in the door because they knew him. A well trained (and supplied) sniper could have shot him in the shoulder rendering his right arm useless, and then the (well trained) negotiators could have dragged him to the ground. Of course we were not there. I think training and money for equipment is badly needed.
I was appalled by the bad treatment the OFWs were receiving, but then the same thing happened to Americans (in France) when Bush invaded Iraq, and many Americans were guilty of treating Arabs badly after 911. I guess people just need to vent and the local person is an easy target.
Hi Richard – I heard in the media a few days after the event – and I don’t know if this is correct, only that it was reported – that under the rules of the police in Manila, the hostage taker could not be shot unless he harmed the hostages. Well, the first thing that I thought to myself was that simply holding these people hostage and scaring them badly should be considered harm enough. I just hope something is done to lessen the chances of a repeat of such an incident.
Hi Bob,
Forget about training etc., it’s simply “palpak” the word used by the security guard at the hotel, sounds and means the same in English, starting with an f…. then a u…. No amount of training, weaponry etc can take the place of a working brain, which they all have in the country but rarely used. I was in a cab to Makati at 1230 when I heard this on the radio, and the cab driver updated me. At 430 pm on the way back, the cab driver was totally incensed that it had dragged on, and suggested that there must be a “padrino” somewhere protecting this guy.
The media (GMA 7) was out of control, and hopefully, it pays the price for focusing on the hostage taker forgetting there were innocent people trapped on that bus. An intern at the hotel giving me change, responded a crisp YES SIR, when I said this is stupid seeing the news headline. The reaction from the locals was total dismay at the handling of the situation. They had better options and ways of diffusing the situation than all the senior people in government put together.
My cab driver on the way to the airport was livid, and thought P-Noy performed so poorly. My niece had a better explanation, the Prez was busy with his psp and couldn’t be bothered. Seeing him on tv that night, I could only say “wow.” Palpak!
Alex
Hi Alex – I hope one of your taxi drivers will be hired by the PNP for command decisions! Ha ha… I think they need somebody like that!
This situation is a tragedy. From what I read about Mendoza he should not have been out of jail. But the Philippines are not the only country that lets there criminals out to walk the streets.
Hi Larry – Maybe I missed something… I was not aware that Mendoza ever was in jail. Can you give me a link or something, I’d like to read about that. It certainly has not been reported in the media here, unless I totally overlooked it.
I should say from everything Mendoza was charged with and accused of he should have been in jail waiting trial.
Hi Larry – I am not sure whether it is true or not, but it was said that Mendoza was already cleared on the corruption charges. Somehow, reports in the media keep saying that he was charged with corruption, fired for it, but then the Ombudsman cleared him. It doesn’t really make sense to me, but that is what I keep hearing. I think there is a lot more of the story that has yet to be reported. Or, maybe we will never know the truth about this.
My heart goes out to the victims families…such a needless tragedy.
Hi Mark – I am with you 100% on that!
Hi Bob,
Glad you waited for things to cool off before writing this. As for the OFW’s in Hong Kong being mistreated. That has been going on for the past 30 years that I know of. It just got worst.
What did I do about it??? I got on a bus and went to GenSan. I am not going hide in the house and wait for the end to come. I could have done that in the States.
Cheers,
Gary
BTW — We have to meet sometime!
Hi Gary – Give me a shout anytime you are in Davao! I’d be happy to get together!
I hope you had a good trip to GenSan.
Welcome to the world we live in.
In my town here in the US the cops are well for a better term Retarded. Crap training pull a gun on someone for opening the front door to his home to see what was going on (happened to me) I wouldn’t trust them to do anything.
Stuff like this happens all over the world and I see crap trained police everywhere. I do not trust any police but the way I see it the only person to blame is Rolando Mendoza and possible the judge that didn’t put him away for life for putting crack down a guys stomach to black mail him.
Could it have been handled better, of course! But if the cops from my town had been there, it would have looked like a three stooges episode with everyone shot in the back and the cops getting off. (yes it happened.)
wana blow your mind, do do a google news search for hostage, everyday you will see what this world is really like.
Hi Jack – I am really sorry, but I have a son who is Mentally Retarded, and I find it offensive the way you used the term. If the police are incompetent, then so be it, but I do not believe that they have a medical condition of retardation. It just really rubs me the wrong way.
Anyway, I want you to know that I am not mad at you, or trying to be mean to you… it is just uncomfortable to me the way that word was used.
Sorry Bob not meant to be offensive to you or your family, I couldn’t think of a better term at that moment. I’m sure your son is far better then the police I have run in to in my years. Ill go for inept next time. please apologies to your son for me.
No problem, Jack… I understand.
The one thing I noticed was the spectators …must have been 300 or more sitting in the area ..looking at what was going on. How is this possible??? And plain and simple, they should have made a play for him when they had that chance by the door talking to him,What the hell were they thinking? A man had a bus full of people hostage and there they are talking to him at the door??? My God what a lost opportunity..Just don’t understand.
Hi lenny – I agree fully on the spectators. A couple of things about that… firstly, did you know that a child who was on onlooker was shot in the incident? It’s true! Also, I have seen a lot of photos of PNP posing in front of the bus and such, like it was a day at the state fair or something. Very shameful.
You are so right, he should have been taken right there at the door. Like you said… what were they thinking?
Bob- I am going to say something that I hope you will not take offense at- because that is certainly not my intention. When we met you told me that your son was mentally retarded- and I was quite surprised at you using that term, because I think that most enlightened people have stopped using that term. To quote :
as of 2010, the Special Olympics, Best Buddies and over 100 other organizations are striving to help eliminate the use of the “r-word” (analogous to the “n-word”) in everyday conversation.[14][15]
Perhaps the negative connotations associated with these numerous terms for mental retardation reflect society’s attitude about the condition. There are competing desires among elements of society, some of whom seek neutral medical terms, and others who want to use such terms as weapons with which to abuse people.[13]
Today, the term “retarded” is slowly being replaced by new words like “special” or “challenged.” The term “developmental delay” is rapidly gaining popularity among caretakers and parents of individuals with mental retardation. Using the word “delay” is preferred over “disability” by many people, because the former term encapsulates the core deficit that creates mental retardation in the first place. Delay suggests that a person has been held back from their potential, rather than someone who has been disabled.[citation needed]
As I said I have no intention to offend you, but perhaps you might consider using a different term to describe your son ? To me its not denying the truth- its just describing the condition in a less negative way.
Hi ian – What you said does not offend me at all. I do not feel it is insensitive for me to use the medically correct term for my son’s condition. If you go to any doctor or medical practitioner, they will use the exact same term. The way I see it, it would be like a doctor saying you have “the big C” instead of coming out and saying “cancer” because maybe it is more politically correct. I don’t feel the need to hide behind “feel good” words when talking about my son. However, I also don’t have any problem with others using terms like “special” and such. I don’t consider stating my son’s medical condition to be negative at all. If others feel that I am being negative toward my son by saying that he is mentally retarded, well, they are just wrong, because I have no negative intention by using the proper medical term in any way.
Bob- just in case anyone wonders where I am coming from – when you used the term I never felt that you were being negative towards your son in the slightest !
Thank you, Ian. I would also like to follow up on my previous response to you. Over the last 10 minutes or so since your original comment on this matter, I have been reflecting on the subject and thought of a few other things that I feel I should have said.
There is a reason why I feel that it is better to use the words “mentally retarded” when telling of my son’s condition, as opposed to saying he is “special” or “challenged”. The reason is that if I say my son is “special” or he is “challenged” I am not really saying what is wrong with him. Maybe he is in a wheelchair. Maybe he is blind or deaf. Maybe he is autistic. He could have any handicap and be called “challenged” or “special”. But, if I am talking to somebody and want them to know what is wrong with my son, the only way that I can be sure that they know what his condition is, is by actually saying what his condition is. I feel that if it is important enough for me to tell somebody that my son has a problem, they should know what the problem is. If I say he is special, the person I am talking to would really have no idea what is wrong with him.
I do not use the term “mentally retarded” in a derogatory way. I only use it to accurately describe my son’s medical condition. I love my son dearly, and I would never use a term that I considered demeaning to him in describing him to others.
Hi Bob,
I agree 100%.
“To be politically correct”- has corrupted the true meaning of words.
Unfortunately, this misplaced so called sensibility has crept into the medical terminology:
Used to be able to say “the patient is a 48 year old ‘negro’ male who comes in with a cough..”
Then, the term negro was changed to ‘black’ (I think that was okay..).
Now, it’s ‘African American’ (what if he’s a white African American?).
Also the term ‘obese’ is changing in the History and Physical: the preferred term now is ‘increased BMI’
Lady Gaga summed it all: “I hate the truth”.
Thanks for your support, Dr. Long…
My daughter has severe mental and physical disabilities so you can probably guess I am from the UK. This is the terminology used and certainly better than the derogatory descriptions used when I was a child. I think each country uses different terminology and as long as its used in the right context than is fine. I think that how people are treated whatever their circumstances speaks far more than the words used. Part of the reason I love the Philippines and their people.
Hi Bob
There were many mistakes obviously. Rolando Mendoza was once a highly decorated cop, including turning in 5 million pesos back in 1986 as reported in the newspapers. He was fired for supposedly extorting 20k pesos from a chef even though the accuser never showed up at Mendoza’s hearing. I think many of these mistakes by certain officials are coming to light. Like Mayor Lim ordering the handcuffing (not the arrest claimed by Lim) of his brother. Secretary Lim (department of tourism) went to the hospital to visit the inujred tourists said I hope this will soon be forgotten. Both men are of Chinese descent.
It was the mayor in Batangas who gave the flag to be placed on the coffin of Mendoza. Also police and college students were taking pictures in front of the bus with them smiling in the forefront.
I hope in the future when these situations arises and they will sooner or later, they will have trained negotiators, trained officers with the necessary equipment. Or things will play out in similar endings like this one.
Hi Neil – Indeed it was a tragedy of errors… one error stacked upon another over and over again. Like you, I hope that such errors can be avoided more in the future.
Bob,
I just want to send my condolences to the families that lost loved ones during this tragedy. Just another event in this world where innocent people just out having a fun day are caught up in a “mad man’s” evil intenions.
I can not believe there was not a single person in the police force or government that did not have training in this area. A lack of using that training may be the cause. I am waiting to see who actually takes the fall for this.
Steve
Hi Steve, the situation of being hurt or killed could have happened to any of us… and could have happened to us anywhere in the world. What a tragic situation. I am with you… waiting to see who gets the blame.
Well Bob, I disagree with some of your commenters in that I think there is much to be said on this subject, and much that should be said publicly and openly by average Filipino’s on the street. No one should be burying their head in the sand over this national disgrace, which was televised live to the whole world.
Unfortunately, we watched it live, as did dozens of millions of people all over the world, especially in countries in approximately similar time zones. Our telephones did not stop ringing for the duration…watch the circus going on being the incoming message. I was watching a news program when the “breaking news” flashed up and continued live to the end. Immediately I saw what was going on with those people, I would hesitate to refer to them as policemen as that would imply at least a modicum of training, I wanted to be a rubber bullet sniper…to get them away from the bus. The whole thing could so easily have been dealt with by dialogue, with no loss of life.
My heart goes out to those bereaved, and to those otherwise hurt. There are many lessons to be learned, that even I, a retailer turned builder, could have taught them, and that is the thing that should those responsible them most.
There are plenty of countries, of course, in which this kind of incompetence could have happened. The Philippines will continue to be a much safer place to be than many others, and unfortunately this incident will indeed damage the country as a whole. I have written to the Director General of the BBC to express my disappointment at the comment in a BBC article that the Philippines in general, most notably Mindanao, is generally unsafe, and have asked for him to quantify that statement in comparison with a major American city, and I wait, without baited breath, for the response that will never come.
There were no winners that day, and there is nothing that can be done about it, other than, as you say, hope that someone can learn a lesson.
Jim
Hi Jim – Believe me… a lot of Filipinos are indeed crying out for change on this, and feeling ashamed of the way things happened.
You are so right that there were no winners….
should read: “that is the thing that should trouble those responsible the most”.
Hi Bob,
This is really sad and this was really handled poorly by the Philippine authorities. It’s not really justifiable to have so many suffer death because of one crazy person who could have been subdued by the police in many chances.
Just a tiny correction on your statement “mostly Filipinos and children”. Actually 9 hostages were released before the firefight, 7 were Chinese and 2 were Filipino photogragraphers. Then the Filipino bus driver escaped. That left 15 Chinese in the bus during the firefight which left 8 dead. It didn’t help also that the bus driver when he escaped was shouting that everyone’s dead… but the police should still double check before doing any action.
As to HK’s response, they have every right to protest and demand an apology and action from the Philippine authorities. But they should not vent their anger to innocent Filipinos working/living in HK. There were already reports that housemaids were terminated as a direct result of the Manila hostage. Also in the news was a housemaid who was verbally abused, thus offered her contract to be ended, but in the end the employer apologised. They should not blame all Filipinos for the crime of a single Filipino; lest they want all of them also to be blamed for the crimes and abuses done by a few of them to some Filipinos especially the domestic helpers.
Now, there are people who are digging up the incident in Tiananmen Square in 2005 where a Filipino and his daughter were killed with a scythe as they were getting off a tourist bus in broad daylight (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/08/29/10/what-about-filipinos-killed-tianamen-square). This does not really help the situation.
I just hope that the vigils/prayers/rallys being done by the Filipinos in HK (as well as the Filipinos Philippines) will be seen by the HK people as sympol of the Filipino people’s solidarity and sympathy to their loss.
Hi Dex – Thank you for making that correction… I had heard on the news that it was mostly Pinoys that were released early, I did not hear any further reports, so it’s good to know the full story on that.
hi bob i saw the situation on the late world news before y wife new of it , a sad situation for all concerned i dont know what the beef was with the tourists if any ,but my wife has told me of possible reprocutions for ofw working in hong kong form there employers ,whether these are true or not i dont know from what i can gather it must have been a complete stuff up to lose so many from one individual do they have snipers in the police surely if the situation had got to a stale mate where they were worried of the safety for the hostages then this would be a course of action to engage ,i can understand the uproar hwen the coffin was draped in the national flag as you say this is normally reserved for fallen heros who pay the ultimate sacrifice for there nation not a cold blooded killer who seems to have no regard for life or the law for which he used to uphold my wife is worried about us going back now as there was another killing somehwere else where foreighners and there filipino partners were the target still you are right it happens everywhere not just in the philipines ,i think you are right that good leadership and training is the key to prvent this happening again and hurting the phillipines
chris
Hi chris – You sure are right on the last point, chris.. this is very bad and hurting the Philippines!
Just another reason that I refuse to take buses or ferries just not worth it……RIP
I understand that such a dreadful event can introduce fear, but it’s important to try to keep a rational perspective on it. It could have happened on a plane, in a branch of Jolibee, or the public toilet at SM. It’s a very very sad situation, with no winners, but to put it in perspective, there must have been millions of bus and ferry journeys that day, and since, that didn’t have any occurrences other than a pothole or two in the road or a rogue wave splashing on deck. Unfortunately, we can’t hide from life and it’s harsh reallities, else we would never venture outdoors at all.
🙂
You are right on target, Jim!
Ha ha… same could happen on any mode of transportation, though! 😉
I’m just sayin that with allnthe bus accidents and ferry tragedies no reason to take that modenofntransport
Heh I hope nobody could get an M16 through airport security here …
I hope so too, Ken!!! 😯
hi bob,
I think, one of the most mistake done with the hostage crisis is, everyone wants to get the credit if the crisis can be resolved perfectly, almost everybody on the ground wants to be a hero and each one of them do their things independently; however, things didn’t turned out right.
forget about the lack of training or lack of equipment because the hostage taker probably has a lack of training too. no matter how well trained the police are or how equipped they are, if someone will expose the position or the plan of the police, the hostage taker can easily pull the trigger. in this case the media done a very good job of exposing the situation to the hostage taker! plus the fact that, it is very difficult to engage with someone who is willing to kill and die no matter how well trained or equipped the police are if the hostage taker will pull that trigger no person can prevent it not even a superhero, remember the waco siege? despite of having the best Swat team, the siege lasted for many days and produce nearly 90 people dead?
the media should be blamed for the outcome of the crisis, it is clear as a crystal that the media meddled too much while it is happening, not only they show a live telecast of the hostage-crisis, many news anchor actually negotiated with the hostage taker and they are not authorized to do so and they all done it because of the “ratings”every media sought after
now the media is on a defensive mode, they won’t take the blame for it, the whole situation would not escalate and would not find its way to youtube if it wasn’t for the media who aired the situation while it is happening in the first place. the so called “Press Freedom” has been abused by the media.
I have no sympathy for the hostage taker or to the family – this could have been prevented if one the family went there to pacify the hostage taker and not to push him more, 11 hours of hostage drama is too long, the family is from batangas and it is less than 3 hours away from manila!
Much of what you say is true; during recent wars the media has been telling the “enemy” what the forces are doing before they even do it, which I find somewhat absurd.
However, in this instance, it seems all the guy needed to hear were the words from what he considered to be someone important enough saying “okay, we need to look at your case again, you’ve done a good job of publicising your plight and we guarantee you a fair and public hearing and we can get you reinstated. Let’s have a coffee and sort it all out”. This whole issue seems to be all about him having lost face, a major thing for a Filipino, culturally.
There may be may facts of which we are, as yet, unaware, but media or no media, smashing the bus windows with a sledge hammer probably would have given him a clue that some kind of attack was under way, and made him realise he was finished anyway.
Hi jim,
I agree with you, we maybe know less about what really transpired on that day, but watching it live, the hostage taker already killed some of his hostage even before the sledge hammer happened. I can only guess, he start killing the hostagse when he saw the airing on t.v. – which by the way the media denied it and refused to take the blame for it – I myself watched his brother being arrested – If I could watch it live – how much more for the hostage taker. the whole thing got out of control when the brother was arrested.
the moment he killed the hostages he already knew he just signed his own death warrant.
It’s true, dans… if there is credit to be had, there is no shortage of takers. If there is blame, the crowd scatters quickly! 😆
Yes, I believe that the media holds some blame, but only a share of it. The police have plenty of blame too. All in all it’s a bad situation, without a doubt!
hi bob,
the media contributed a lot, the airing of his brother’s arrest is the final straw. the moment he saw what was happening to his brother on the t.v. he requested to let his brother go, and 6 minutes later he shot the hostages.
Hi dans – I fully agree, the media has blame. But, there is plenty of blame to go around… nobody needs to be spared this time! 😉
Hello Bob,
It’s so sad that when people are so unhappy with their life that innocent people get hurt or worse is death. Here in the States, people who are upset with a situation in their marriage or in general in life. They kill their own spouse or kids. My thought is that if you want to leave the situation don’t involve other people. Just after this incident, another killing happen in the PI. Just hope people don’t think that the PI is a bad place to visit after these two killings. It just happen’s all over the world.
Hi Tina e – Yes, mass killings happen everywhere… often they involved family, as you say. People already think that the Philippines is a bad place… this will only reinforce their thinking.
I have been waiting a week to see you (Bob) writing an article on this….because I so badly wanted to respond to this on this site like I have other sites.
First of all what happened is a TOTAL tragedy. Simply terrible. I was in America at a clients home and saw it all happening…made me sick.
But the second TRAGEDY (although not nearly as bad as the first) is the way people are acting towards the Philippine National Police. No doubt, it was handled wrong. But the police that tried to go into the bus were still brave and doing the best that they could. You know they have to feel awful about what happened. To gang up on them and call them Filipino incompetent MONKEYS like I have seen in other places is a disgrace.
One important thing to note here….the MAIN problem was not the actual assault, although that was bad enough, it was the negotiations. It is amazing that this was shown on live TV. They had to know that bus had a TV on it and the hostage taker probably could see what was going on. Just a bad bad mistake.
The other issue is that negotiations should have taken place at a higher level. A much higher level to appease Mendoza. It apparently did not, he saw his brother being arrested, and he started shooting.
Now that gets to the my third point. The assault was not well planned or executed….but it probably would not have mattered that much once Mendoza suddenly started shooting. He didn’t even really have to aim at anyone to kill people. In a tight environment like that if you just start spraying bullets you are going to hit people. So once the shooting started he could have quickly killed many people.
I was in the Marine Corps, we did not train for bus assaults, but we trained for a lot of other assaults. ANY assault in a tight cramped area like that with hostages is BRUTAL. The margin for error is almost non existent. I honestly think that any SWAT team in the world would have had problems saving ALL of the hostages once the firing began.
Remember, he seemed fairly under control (as much as you can be doing what he was doing) and then he suddenly opened fire. You could have had the best Marine Corp Recons or the BEST swat teams move in at that point and you still would have had dead people.
Are changes in order….ABSOLUTELY! Major changes. But just focusing on the assault does not change the problem….the main problem was the negotiations and who was in charge of getting this man to a point where he really thought he could get what he wanted without killing people. That is where the real breakdown occurred.
So yes, what I saw was very disheartening and frustrating and just plain awful. But please do not name throw at the policemen who showed bravery in doing what they did. It was a REALLY tough assault made even more difficult by lack of equipment and training….NOT THEIR FAULT!
This reply is getting really long but the tourism part of this must be mentioned. Sure, tourism is going to be hurt for awhile, but since it is maybe this will wake more of the filipinos up and make them realize they can have their culture and national pride…but they need to get with the program. What happened is simply not acceptable and maybe the shock of it all and the country losing money is what needs to happen to wake the people up.
And I can guarantee you that SWAT team assaults in American and every other country do not always work out well either. But of course this happened in the Philippines so people immediately jump to conclusions. Filipino’s are idiots, Filipino’s do not know what they are doing, Filipinos this, Filipinos that, and the Filipines is really dangerous. NONE OF THAT IS TRUE.
After all, money in the filipines seems to talk louder than any words.
Hi Todd – I waited to write the article for two reasons… I usually have a week’s worth of articles pre-written and scheduled for publication in advance. Now, I could re-schedule an article and insert something that is newsworthy. However, I wanted to give this a chance to calm down a bit before writing it here.
I’ve been looking but can’t find any reports of interviews with anyone on the bus who survived and could report on what went down in the final moments. There must be a reason given, bogus or otherwise, to explain why shooting erupted.
Hi James – the best thing one could say is that right now, everything is in a state of confusion. You can not really fully believe anything that you hear at this time, and really have to wait for things to settle down in order for the situation to clear and truth to be known.
Bob your post made a useful contribution to the analysis of the incident, which is more than I can say for 90% of the nonsense I’ve read on other expat forums and in the RP newspapers. It’s remarkable how many people have used the tragedy to try to undermine the president, as if it was his job to come down to Luneta and personally direct a police operation. “Always said he was weak!” half a dozen US ex-military expats agreed shrilly. Maybe they’ve been watching too many movies starring President Harrison Ford.
Another really disappointing thing was the reaction of the Hong Kong and Chinese governments (and some of the people). To interpret the event as somehow being directed at China is ridiculous, unless I’ve missed something Mendoza said. I imagine he chose tourists because he would find it less distasteful to kill foreigners than fellow-Filipinos, and he thought making an international incident of it would put more pressure on the local authorities. The poor buggers could just as easily have been Koreans or Americans or Belgians.
Finally, the attempts by some expats and Filipinos to justify Mendoza’s actions have been contemptible. They seem to have swallowed completely his story about being treated unjustly and are busy blaming the whole affair on the Ombudsman or the PNP. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to them that someone sufficiently unhinged to slaughter a bunch of strangers in 2010 is unlikely to have been fit for a position in law enforcement in 2008.
Your points about the importance of training are well made, but I’ve got a feeling most of the officers who completed enough training to be really competent might soon be working offshore or for private security companies. Perhaps the Philippines’ greatest tragedy is that everyone from the government down regards skilled people mainly as exportable commodities to go make money elsewhere and send it home.
Hi Ken – Thanks for your comment. I agree with you completely about the people who are blaming the President. I mean… there is no reason that the President of the country should be involved in something like this. In fact, if P-Noy went down there during the crisis he probably would have been criticized for being in the way where he did not belong! Some people will criticize just for the sake of doing it.
“It seems that many people from other Asian countries see citizens from the Philippines as being inferior.”
Hi, Jack:
Do you remember the stand-up comic by the name of Rodney (I get no respect) Dangerfield? Well, the Philippines is just like that in the eyes of the CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans). To be sure, there are other people in the Southeast and East Asia region like the Singaporeans, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Malaysians, and to a certain extent, Indonesians who think the same, but the CJK people may be the most notorious of them all when it comes to looking down on the Filipinos as being inferior to them and with good reasons. Foremost is the fact that compared to theirs, the Philippine economy is a basket case, which, if not mistaken, is only a notch above that of Bangladesh.
It also does not help that there exists a preponderance of Filipina domestic helpers scattered all over the globe, which simply reinforces the misperception of inferiority. Has anyone heard of a Japanese house maid working for a Kuwaiti family, or a Chinese “amah” working in the Netherlands? Indeed, the Greek dictionary defines the word, “Filipina”, a domestic helper.
The preponderance of Filipina housemaids in Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the UK – in fact, in practically every country of the world – is such that it has become a social stigma attached to the Philippines as a country. (What many people do not realize, though, is this preponderance is not limited to domestic help, for there are many Filipino professionals in the medical field working in Western countries, to say nothing of petroleum engineers and architects working in the Middle East, particularly in OPEC countries.)
You and I both know that many Filipina DH have college degrees and are probably superior in intelligence and disposition to some of their wealthy employers in Hong Kong or Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, the unenlightened will forever equate domestic helpers with inferiority.
Politically, the Filipinos must be the laughing stock of the whole world for its obsession with electing movie stars and basketball players to be their mayors and president who turn out to be thieves.
Then there’s the perception of being an oddity in terms of religion, being the only Christian country in a region that is dominated by Shintoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam. And, finally, the Filipinos are seen as a mixed bag having no distinct cultural identity they can call their own unlike those found in the homogenized societies of CJK whose cultural identity go back thousands of years.
To sum it up, in the eyes of CJK, the Filipino is like an orphan wandering the streets of Manila trying to figure out whether his parents are Spanish, Americans, or Malays. LOL
John,
I’m sure you’re not the only reader who has observed some of what you describe and allude to, and know it to be true, but I hope you understand that in a forum such as this, agreeing with you too much could put some on very “thin ice!” 🙂
I for one believe these problems are a combination of the “divide and conquer” methods of the Spanish over 400 years ago and a similar approach used by the Americans in 1898. If I’m right, we will surely not live long enough to see the Philippine economy present a serious challenge to their Nippon neighbors to the north.
–James
Just like to say thank you Sir Bob on a well written article. I watched the whole incident and for once I am at a loss for words.
My sincerest condolences to the families of the people who were killed in this unfortunate incident.
I thank the lord or whoever is in control of this universe that it was not my mum and dad on that bus.
My wish for the aftermath is that something good will arise from this situation so that the people on the bus did not die in vain.
Hi Boss – At this time, it is hard to see what good could come from this. However, you are right… good can come from a bad situation like this, a lot depends on how it is handled.
Hi All:
This just in on the Manila Massacre. I am one of perhaps hundreds of thousands of recipients of this email purportedly written by a Dutch citizen married to a Filipina. I’ve cut and pasted it here for your entertainment. (Frankly, I think it was written by a Filipino by his use of the verb, “have”, i.e., “…so he have to get out of the bus…”).
Subject: komento ng isang foreigner..grabe to!!!
kir106 on August 25, 2010 at 1:47 pm
As a white person married to a filipina and father to two half dutch / filipino children, I feel for Philippines . I have sadness but I also have frustration and anger towards filipino culture (in some cases, filipino behaviour is idiotic)…because I see it in my wife, in my in-laws and her relations.
To most foreigners, we see and understand the bad things in filipino culture (and yet filipinos do not understand nor see the bad in themselves, why because you filipinos think that you are good people because you are catholics or born-agains….let me tell you, there are bad catholics and there are bad born-agains).
This sad story just highlights the idiotic nature of filipino culture and how it impacts on the filipino society. This bad side of the filipino culture was displayed over the world (via cable tv and internet, however we have ABS-CBN so we watched it live). I will try and explain in english and broken tagalog:
Idiot 1: stupid filipino negotiator
The filipino negotiator only talked for about 30 minutes then gave up. That is not how you do or practice negotiation skills in hostage situations. In other parts of the world, most negotiators do it for 48 hours. They give the hostagetaker lots of food and water to drink and talk to him all the time. The logic behind this is after 12 hours (of eating and drinking), they need to pee or poo (kailangan wee-wee at tae), so he have to get out of the bus, that’s when you need to attack him. Have you tried to talk on the phone when ebs is starting to come out? Its very hard. This is a technique filipino negotiators need to learn. Yes, the hostagetaker was given food…but it should have been more over a 48 hour period. After 48 hours, susuko din ito.
Idiot 2: stupid swat team with a hammer
There was a stupid swat team who was hammering the window with a long and heavy piledriver hammer. After 3 attempts he got tired, he needed to let go of the hammer and give his gun to his partner so he can rest. Well, next time try to work out in the gym, do some weights and jog to get fit. Sobra taba pagod agad.
Idiot 3: emergency lock out on hydraulic doors
All tour buses have an emergency lock out for the hydraulic doors. It’s located under the bus near the underside of the door. I saw on TV that they were trying to find out where the lock out is…instead the tababoy swat hammered the door, what did it do…nothing, it’s still remained close and he got tired some more. In other parts of the world, the tactical response group practice everyday on how to attack or seige a hostage situation, they study all type of vehicles (airplanes, buses, trains, boats etc) and practice how to attack these positions. They study were the entry and exit are, where emergency doors are and how to stop these vehicles (just ask the Israel Tactical response group, they do this every day). Next time, study the layout of the bus first. Filipinos tend not to worry about what may happen, they only act when it is happening.
Idiot 4: Roping the door
Another swat team (the tababoy swat team have to be substituted he got tired) tried to rope the door and pull it using the Isuzu police truck…what happened? The rope broke….hellllloooo…..hydraulic doors are designed to stand against a lot of force and pressure. A rope made of abaca won’t open it.
Idiot 5: The bystander boy who got shot in the leg
A bystander got shot in the leg. Well, what do you expect? The swat team should have quarantined and sanctioned the area. Example: put a ribbon or barracade saying “Crime Scene” just like you see in the movies….or is the PNP to poor to buy one of those. Al bystanders should realise that they are not part of the event and if something happens to them it is their own fault. Buti nga sayo, buhay ka pa !!
Idiot 6: Throwing tear gas into the bus
It is idiotic to throw tear gas into a bus when nobody knew how many people were still alive. Of those dead people, I wonder how many died of tear gas suffocation. Of course, PNP will not admit it, they will say that the hostagetaker killed them. I do not trust filipino autospy. Filipinos tend to fake documents or stories to make them look good (it’s called ‘saving face’). As far as the PNP is concerned, the hostagetaker killed them and no other investigation is required.
Idiot 7:Firing into the bus
This is one of the most serious idiotic actions they did. Firing into the bus also creates ricochet (banda-banda). I wonder how many got killed because of this? Like number 6, PNP will not admit it.
Idiot 8: Swat team entering after the tear gas
This idiotic act is the one that made me laugh (and I am sure all tactical response group in the world will be using this as a “don’t do” training video because of its ‘kenkoy’ effect). Two swat teams enter the bus after they put the tear gas…what happened…they have to asked for help from the people outide to get them out because they cant breath…why…because they forgot the gas mask. Next time do an inventory of equipment you need in case of emergency
Idiot 9: The treatment of the brother and family of the hostagetaker
It was seen on TV that the wife, daughter and brother of the hostagetaker were treated poorly. Nobody helped them, not even the media. No person tried to help the family. In most society, a group of people will form a circle around the family to help them…nobody did that for them. Where is the people power… Philippines have done it before, why didn’t they do it then? No one offered help to the wife and the pregnant daughter, they saw their father killed in front of them. That is no way to treat people….for a country who claims to be ‘mapagmahal’, catholic and christian that was an utter embarrassment.
Idiot 10: Corrupt police
The hostagetaker wanted to clear his name because he was charged with corruption. Corruption…in the Phillippines….that’s news to me (sarcastic)!!! One policeman charged with corruption is not going to make a difference. Catching small corruption is not going to make a difference….the real corruption happens at the top of filipino government (ie Marcos, Erap, Arroyo).Us foreigners laugh at filipino stupidity because you do not learn, you get rid of Marcos because he was bad and corrupt, but still vote for Imelda and her children to become congressman and governor, give them a second chance to be corrupt again……so, nothing changed. That’s Corruption….and ‘katangahan ng pilipino’. In other countries, police treat one another like brothers and help them when they need it. It did not happen here.
Idiot 11: Media and dead people
This is the most idiotic and unacceptable behaviour that was displayed to the world. Filipino media is to be blamed for this. Respect and sensitivity should have been excersised by the media. They showed (in close up), the dead body of the hostagetaker hanging from the door with blood and brains dripping from the head, the dead body of a child and other dead bodies with blood being taken out of the bus. This should not have been televised. The relatives of the dead will not want it televised but the filipino media did. This is not good. Respect for the dead should have been observed.
Idiot 12: Laughing sniper
The sniper was interviewed by the media and he seemed to be happy and laughing when he told the reporter how he shot the hostagetaker in the head and that he was proud he killed him. The wife, daughter and father of the hostagetaker (watching from their province) will obviously will not want another person to hear how proud they were when he shot their husband / father. I hope that the sniper have a son, father, brother and I hope one day someone will shoot them infront of him and I want to know how he feels then.
CONCLUSION:
This will only give filipinos a bad name overseas. It will also affect filipinos who are born overseas, eventhough they have nothing to do with this, they will be judged of what filipinos in Philippines did.
For filipinos trying to get a visa to Canada, USA, UK, Europe etc…forget it…you will be judged by their immigration office for this kind of event. They already know that most filipinos are likely to be TNT and this backlash will make it even harder for filipinos to get visa.
Ganti on DH
I am sure, that Hong Kong / China will go on a massive revenge on filipina DH in hong kong. I am sure of it. HK and Chinese only see filipinas as lowly people who’s only role is to clean houses. PS: chinese people don’t know that Europeans look at them as lowly immigrants who clean toilets in europe ….ganti din.
Ganti on japayuki
Also, Japanese people will take revenge on japayukis in Japan . Japanese people already treat filipinas like dirt and they will even treat them even worse because of this. Japanese people to not take filipinos in high regard…japanese only see filipinos as dirt people who will do anything just to get money (ie be japayuki in japan).
Ganti on OFW in Saudi
I’m sure too, that OFW in Saudi will also feel the revenge of people there because of this.
I am sure that my children will be teased and bullied at school because of this. My children, regardless of being half-white are still brown in colour, with black hair (but with blue eyes) and people know they are half-filipinos.
So filipinos in Philippines, your stupidity in your country is also ‘hawa-hawa’ to other filipinos overseas…they get judged by what you filipinos in Philippines do to yourselves or to others.
Internet order filipina brides will always get foreign husbands, unfortunately for filipino lalaki, there is no such thing as internet order filipino husbands (I never seen white woman with filipino husband), as more filipina marry foreigner more filipino lalaki are left behind in philippines (my wife said she does not like filipino lalaki because they are ‘tanga’…..I know she married me for money and greencard so she can send dollars to her batugan parents and batugan brothers, batugan cousins and batugan kapitbahay)….so, the only hope for Philippines is for half-foreigner and half-filipino children, half is better than stupid full-blood filipino. NAKAKAHIYA ANG PINAG-GAGAWA …… KAPALPAKAN NG ILANG TAO DAMAY BUONG PILIPINO !!!!! ANG MGA OFW NGAYON ANG MAG-DUDUSA MALIIT NA NGA ANG TINGIN LALU PANG PINA-LIIT ,,,,,KAYA NGA MY ICIP PARA GAMITIN,HINDI DEKORASYON !!! Tsk,tsk,tsk
John – In the future, please refrain from posting forwarded e-mails in the comments. I’ll let it slide this time, but I would prefer no more.
Good morning from Delaware, Bob! So sorry, I didn’t realize that you have a prohibition in this site for posting forwarded emails. Is this a newly-instituted policy? Again, I apologize.
Regards
One thing he did forget to mention in the e-mail was the three sledge hammers that slipped out of the PNP hands and flew into the bus, probably inflicting more injury to the hostages……(groan).
They managed to recover one sledgehammer.
Hey Boss – Maybe that was strategy on the part of the police.. they were passing the sledge hammers as weapons for the hostages! 😯
Hi John – Mostly, this is a copyright/ownership issue. The comments section here is a place where LiP participants can share their views and interact with the writers and other readers who wish to participate. However, the people who wrote that e-mail originally did not write it for inclusion here. Because they did not put it here themselves, I could actually be sued for publishing content that they wrote and did not authorize to be placed here.
Makes sense, Bob. Thanks for the explanation.
No problem, John. I guess what it comes down to is that I prefer to stay out of legal problems! 😉
I hope people will continue to talk about it. If China does not keep the talk going it will be forgotten and nothing positive accomplished to bring about change. Secretary of Tourism Lim said the next day on a Media in Focus, “This will affect tourism in a negative way and we must take immediate action to do damage control, but THIS WILL ALL BE FORGOTTEN IN THREE OR FOUR MONTHS.”
Thas is what politicians do in the Philippines with problems. They initally do a lot of talking, then the talk dies down and the people forget and nothing is ever accomplished to make life better for the people.
Have we already forgotten when the fine Senator and his military group took the Peninsual Hotel in Manila. Media was faulted by the police for interfereing. A school owner took children hostage a few years back. He is now out on bail. The media was faulted how they handled the coverage. Each time they promised to police themself and ask the government not to get involved fearing the return of a police state. Now this. The media certainly made matters worst, they are promising to police themselves, and the government is looking for a way not to get involved. How many times does this have to happen until congress writes laws covering how these events will be covered and penalties if the media does not heed the laws.
Media will not police themself because getting the scoop is all that matters to media. I hope the talk continues until something positive comes from the talk.
Hi Tom – I have been waiting to see if anybody would bring up about the school kids that were taken hostage a few years back. That case is almost directly parallel to this one, but you are the first that I have heard bring it up. Indeed, it was all forgotten! Shame, shame.
I agree with John that this story was written by a filipino. It id unfortunate that filipinos -generally- have so little self confidence and such a low sense of self worth. Because this lack of self worth is observed by other cultures- and taken as being indicative of what filipinos are all about. But filipinos are much more than they currently portray themselves to be on the world stage. But first they have to gain enough self confidence to believe in themselves.
The author says ” This sad story just highlights the idiotic nature of filipino culture and how it impacts on the filipino society.” I strongly disagree with his assessment . The actions of many filipinos might be naive, might be ignorant [ i am using the word in its correct sense], might be sometimes illogical – but in all cases those judgments are as a result of seeing their actions thru western eyes- but can certainly not be construed as being idiotic. I could write at length about what is “idiotic” about current western/european civilization . So could the rest of us I’m sure.
Whoever wrote this article is so full of hate that even tho I agree with some things he says I can not take his rants seriously.
” Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. I don’t know the author of that statement, but it definitely applies here.
Hi Dave – I wondered who said that, as it is such an often repeated quote. I looked it up, and was not surprised to see that it was Winston Churchill. Very true.
Someone I know (close to), erm, I won’t mention names but have links to the police thought some theory of that the police accidentally shot the hostages or something when giving those shots. Dunno why that idea, but just sharing since its of the topic.
Not quite sure I understand that either, Jawz. 😉
I was visiting RP when this happened, we watched it unfold on TV, then we took a nap and when we awoke I was amazed it wasn’t resolved. More hours went by and still not resolved. I told my fiancee they are taking too long with this, it’s not going to end well. Very sad for the families who lost their loved ones.
Hi Jim – Yeah, my situation was much like yours. I saw it on TV early in the day… later on I was amazed that it was still going on.
Just watching CNN [ 7 pm] . latest word from Manila is that the forensics show that at least some of the hostages were shot by police- in complete contradiction to what the bus driver testified yesterday.
Hi ian – I saw the report on CNN. The report I saw said that it is possible that some were shot by the police, but it is not yet determined. We shall see.