Philippine Hostage Crisis Ends Badly

Philippine security forces ended a 11 hour hostage crisis yesterday with 8 Hong Kong nationals and the gunman dead. This dramatic hostage crisis unfolded live on global television. The day-long ordeal on Monday began when a ex-policeman,  former senior police inspector Rolando Mendoza, armed with an M-16 assault rifle hijacked the bus in Manila's tourist district in a desperate bid to get his job back.

Negotiations broke down after nightfall when the gunman, former senior police inspector Rolando Mendoza, began shooting, supposedly because he saw his brother being arrested by the Philippine National Police. Special Forces were forced to storm the bus to stop the gunman.

"I shot two Chinese. I will finish them all if they do not stop," Mendoza told a
local radio station as the police assault was about to get under way.

While watching the live broadcast of all local TV networks, I can see that Philippine SWAT, Special Forces, PNP are not organized and not fully equipped. They even had a practice with a identical bus a few hours before storming the bus. 

Yet, after waiting more than 10 hours to launch their assault, police were then unable to get inside the bus for another 90 minutes. Finally someone thought of throwing a tear gas. That resulted to Mendoza going to the front of the bus giving opportunity for a sniper to shoot him and end this long hostage crisis.

One of the survivors hit out at the Philippine authorities, saying they acted too slowly.

A former commander of France's elite hostage rescue unit criticised the police assault as "badly prepared and risky".

The officers who stormed the bus did not have specialist training and "visibly lacked adequate equipment and tactical competence," said Frederic Gallois, the former head of France's National Gendarmerie Intervention Group.

This incident is a disgrace to our country. The whole world watched as our "finest" police handled the situation. They provoked the gunman by arresting his brother, they provoked him again with so many attempts to storm the bus. They were not organized and had no strategy whatsoever on how to get inside the bus even with prior training with an identical bus. This is what we Filipinos always say and I think is applicable to what happened. "BAHALA NA" strategy. I know our dear President Noynoy Aquino would defend our Police's actions, but the whole world saw it. There is no excuse. Apology is must.

Mendoza, 55, was honoured by police chiefs in 1986 as one of the top 10 officers in the country. But he was discharged in 2008 for his alleged involvement in drug-related crimes and extortion and hijacked the bus in a bid to clear his name, according to police.

The Hong Kong government warned all its citizens to avoid travelling to the Philippines, and expressed grief over the killings. Flags on Hong Kong government buildings will fly at half mast on Tuesday as a mark of respect for the victims.

The Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, telephoned his Philippine counterpart Alberto Romulo to express Beijing's shock and demand a thorough investigation, China's official Xinhua news agency said.

How can the bloodbath be avoided?

Stupid and Insensitive Photos

Source: news.yahoo.com by Mynardo Macaraig