Philippine Hostage Crisis : What Went Wrong?

Image from in.reuters.com

Mistake 1: Hostage Taker Mendoza asks for a media representative to interview him and share his demands but was denied.

Mistake 2: One of the Hostage Negotiator was the vice mayor of Manila. A former Philippine actor with no experience whatsoever in these situations.

Mistake 3: The Philippine Police did not made an effort to contain the area and give certain safe-zones for media and civilians.

Mistake 4: The Philippine Police did not use

the the freed hostages efficiently to update or come up with a strategy.

Mistake 5: The Philippine Police arrested the brother of the hostage taker. In front of live television. Which the gunman saw on the on-board TV in the bus. Provoking him to fire his M-16.

Mistake 6: Philippine Police shot the Bus's tires, aggravating the hostage taker even further. 

Mistake 7: They assaulted the bus basing and without confirming what a confused and scared driver saying all the hostages are dead. 

Mistake 8: There was no media black out when the decided to assault the bus. Which removes the element of surprise.

Mistake 9: The Philippine Police did not send the SWAT to assault the bus, which was its purpose. But I doubt there would be any difference. 

Mistake 10: The Philippine Police foolishly smashed windows, doors and windshields with a hammer, causing the hostage taker to fire shots and making him confused even more.

Mistake 11: By the looks of the movement of the Philippine Police during assault, there was no Plan B, C or D. Just plan A. So when Plan A failed, all of them didn't know what to do and just did what's the first thing came to their empty heads. 

Mistake 12: The Philippine Police did not plan for the worst. Which I think is a must with this kinds of situations. The Philippine Police should have asks lot of "WHAT IFs". What if negotiations fails? What if a hostage is shot? What if the hostage taker decide to move the bus? What if he shoots warning shots? What if there's a TV in the bus? If the Philippine Police asked these questions, maybe, just maybe the worst could have been avoided.

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