Sunday, April 01, 2007 [ 3:49 AM ]

HOSTAGE "DRAMA"

The hostage crisis the country saw last Wednesday made us realize lots of things. It showed us how ignorant our police are when it comes to handling a hostage situation. It showed us how undisciplined our media can get for the sake of getting the news. And it showed us how our politicians act when election is fast approaching.

Surely the cops went through series of lectures and practical subjects involving different crime situations when they were still at school. They were trained and they were prepared for the worst kind of situation. But the way they handled the hostage crisis told us otherwise. It seems that the cops were only trained for the worst kind of protest rally in Mendiola. It seems that they only know how to disperse hundreds of thousands of people threatening to get near EDSA but not people getting near a hostage scene where there are suspected explosives expected to blow any time.

As a result, the DILG wants an explanation from the ground commanders and officers in charge of the situation saying that lots of mishandlings have been made. But is it not just a clear washing of hands? Because if they really knew what proper procedure should be followed, then why nobody even tried to correct what the cops are doing? The hostage drama took almost 10 hours but nobody directed the troops on what was the right thing to do.

On the part of the media it was very obvious that we are not that mature yet when it comes to such coverage. Maybe if the police have a ground commander to lead the team, the media should also have one to control its fleet. Though it’s a competition on who gets the news first, at least we should know where our borderline lies both ethical and literal.

But apart from all these novice behaviors, there are allegations that the hostage drama was really a big drama directed by politicians who just want publicity. There are no proofs to back it up yet but we are free to wonder and speculate. What were politicians doing there? Aside from the fact that they have no business being there, they are not allowed there. Senator Revilla was apparently called by Mr.Ducat but what about Chavit Singson? What the hell was he doing there? I’m not sure, but what I know is that the other hostage taker is Singson’s personal photographer. Was it just a coincidence? Your guess is as good as mine.

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