Pala-isip

From InterAksyon.com MANILA, Philippines - (UPDATE 9, 7:53 p.m.) Authorities imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. Monday till 5 a.m. Tuesday in Zamboanga City, where several Cabinet officers and security forces are hunkered down with local government executives to resolve the crisis sparked by the taking of 220 hostages by 100 Moro rebels who tried to take city hall at dawn. A firefight with government troops shut down the city early Monday morning, and resulted in the death of at least four people--one policeman, one navy personnel and two civilians--and injuries to at least 17 others. Government security forces successfully foiled the group, which a military official said is a breakaway faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by Haber Malik. However, an MNLF official said the armed men were there as an “advance team” for Misuari. In a press briefing late Monday afternoon, Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas II confirmed that the overall ground comm...

From the Inquirer . Romeo Salvador, one of the two police negotiators in the Aug. 23, 2010, hostage drama, on Tuesday stood on the same spot where last year he was filled with hope that negotiations with the hostage-taker would succeed. “I thought I would just offer a simple prayer, walk to the site and leave. But it was very hard for me. My knees shook and I was trembling as I was walking to the spot,” Salvador said in Filipino. He approached the shrine of flowers and candles—on the exact spot where the tourist bus had stood—intending to offer a prayer and then leave, not wanting to attract the attention of the survivors and relatives of the victims who were holding a remembrance ceremony at the site. But just as Salvador feared, he was recognized by some members of the local and foreign media. A Hong Kong reporter angrily asked him: “Why haven’t you resigned?” Another foreign reporter said: “Why are you still a negotiator?” One local television reporter simply asked, “Why...

Here's the report of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee on the August, 23, 2010 Rizal Park Hostage-taking Incident: Sequence Of Events, Evaluation and Recommendations. Here is a part of the report. FACTS and SEQUENCE of EVENTS The Tour Group The Hong Kong tour group held hostage by Police Senior Inspector (Captain) Rolando D. Mendoza inside the Hong Thai tour bus on August 23, 2010 in front of the Quirino Grandstand along Independence Ave. of Rizal Park consisted of three families, two couples, a mother and daughter, and the tour leader. The LEUNG family consisted of the 58 yr. old father LEUNG Kam-wing (Ken), the 43 yr. old mother NG Yau-woon (Amy), a 21 yr. old daughter LEUNG Chung-see, an 18 yr. old son LEUNG Song-xue (Jason), and a 14 yr. old daughter LEUNG Song-yi (Jessie). At the end of the tour, Amy will lose her husband and two daughters, and will be left with a comatose son. The FU family consisted of the 39 yr. old FU Cheuk-yan, the 40 yr. old mother TSANG Y...

Etong mga taong eto parang walang pinag-aralan. Show some decency naman. But can you really blame them? It shows how insensitive Filipinos have become. They've gotten so used to all these violence and stupid things that's been happening in the country that tragedies like these have become like tourist attractions to them. I really hope their parents and teachers teaches them to be a little more considerate.

Here's a summary of what went wrong from BBC News . ==================== A security analyst who has worked in counter-terrorism with the British Army and Scotland Yard, Charles Shoebridge, says the officers involved in Manila's bus siege showed great courage - but they were not properly trained or equipped for the task. Here are 10 areas where, in his view, they could have done better. 1. Determination Philippine police end Manila bus hijack The first officers who tried to storm the bus were driven out by gunshots from the hostage taker, former policeman Rolando Mendoza. "They showed great courage to go on board. It's very crowded, just one aisle down the middle of the bus. But once you get on board it's not unexpected you are going to be fired at. Squads like this have to be made up of very special people, specially trained and selected for their characteristics of courage, determination and aggression. In this case they acted as 99% of the population would have, ...

This lone police woman has more balls than the whole Philippine SWAT team that tried to rescue the hostages.

I got this e-mail accounting the personal observations of a friend regarding the botched rescue attempt of the hostages in Manila on August 23, 2010. ==================== Personal observations on Mendoza’s hostage taking It is very disturbing to see how inept our police forces have remained in handling hostage situations. To wit: · Failure to control the crowd and media. Media was unwittingly telegraphing the PNP plans and positions over TV and radio. Rolando Mendoza apparently was able to listen to radio broadcasts. · The police was ill-equipped with gas masks and comfortable assault uniforms and not office attires. Can you imagine executing assault moves in office uniforms? · It is very important that the hostage taker be kept calm so he will decide on drastic steps not out of panic but clear thinking. The hostage takers must have panicked hearing over the radio the rough handling of his brother by the police who decided to arrest him for obstruction of justice. ·...

Here is the full entry of the 2010 Manila hostage crisis as posted in Wikipedia . ==================== The 2010 Manila hostage crisis occurred on August 23, 2010, in front of the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines, when a dismissed police officer from the Manila Police District, former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza (10 January 1955 - 23 August 2010),[3] took 25 people hostage[4] aboard a bus. By the evening, the police assaulted the bus after gunshots were heard, eventually leading to the shooting and subsequent death of Mendoza. Eight Chinese nationals from Hong Kong died in the incident. ==================== Read the full entry here .

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . ==================== MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs is keeping quiet on the diplomatic blunder that President Benigno Aquino III may have made for being inaccessible to Hong Kong officials at the height of and immediately after the hostage crisis Monday. DFA spokesman Ed Malaya only referred to the DFA statement expressing the country’s and the President’s “deepest condolences to the government and people of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the People’s Republic of China, especially the families and relatives of the eight Hong Kong Chinese nationals who perished during a hostage-taking incident” in Manila. In a press conference Monday night, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang expressed disappointment over the aftermath of the crisis. He also said he had been unable to reach Aquino. Under such circumstances and as part of protocol, the chief executive of the host country takes the initiative to get in touch w...

Here's the footage of the storming of the bus with hostages in Manila on August 23, 2010. There were 25 hostages and 7 people were killed, 5 were injured and taken to the hospital and 9 were released by the hostage taker Rolando Mendoza. Because of this incident, Hong Kong has issued a travel ban to the Philippines. One of my co-workers who's from Hong Kong said, "My people were killed! How can you live in a country were the peace keepers cannot keep the peace? The police were inept and doesn't even seem to know what they were doing. I wouldn't want to go there." If you look at the footage, you can see that the Philippine SWAT team really looks disorganized. Here's what some of my friends called the SWAT. SWAT = Sorry Wala Akong Training / Sorry We Aren't Trained / Sulong, Wait, Atras, Tago LOL. What a damn shame, goodbye tourism! Here's another video of the hostage crisis from AP. Here are some photos I found online of the situation. Photo copyri...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer . =================== MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 6) It’s over. The hostage crisis that gripped the world for at least 10 hours Monday ended with at least three people killed, including the hostage-taker, and 17 survivors, according to reports culled by INQUIRER.net. The body of dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza was recovered inside the tourist bus that he took over in Manila about 9 a.m. He was taken to Ospital ng Maynila. Also taken to the same hospital were seven of the hostages, five of who are alive and two dead. Five – one in critical condition and one dead – are at the Manila Doctors’ Hospital while one confirmed dead is at San Juan De Dios. Mendoza who was charged with drug-related offenses, took over the bus with 22 Chinese nationals and three Filipinos and demanded his reinstatement into the force. Aside from Mendoza, two of the hostages were also killed although Metro Manila Police Director Leocadio Santiago in an interview with ...

Yesterday, March 27, 2007, a man held 26 people hostage in a bus at the Manila City Hall. The hostage taker, Armando Ducat Jr. took his own students hostage on the way to a field trip to Tagaytay they said. Although he released his hostages after 10 hours. It made me think, is this really a hostage crisis or just a political ploy to get more mileage out of the coming election? Here are the reasons why I think this way. First, they got Senator Bong Revilla, Jr. to be the hostage negotiator. What the hell? What does he know about being a hostage negotiator? Don't you need to be trained in psychology and police work to be an effective negotiator? Second, Bong Revilla claims to have close ties with Ducat. What!?! You're friends with a hostage taker/terrorist? Third, Chavit Singson also went to the scene and was shown on television boarding the bus. I mean, who in their right mind would go inside a bus with a guy threatening to blow up the bus with his grenade? Well, I know Chavit i...