Whose head should roll? Citizens chime in on hostage crisis
MANILA, Philippines - What lessons have Filipinos learned from the recent August 23 hostage-taking incident in Rizal Park in Manila?
This question and many others were among those discussed during a special edition of ANC's "Strictly Politics: Vox Populi" on Tuesday.
Ten people, namely Doctor Yves Aquino, ROCK Ed’s Gang Badoy, former congressman Ruffy Biazon, cultural activist Carlos Celdran, lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles, security consultant Ace Esmeralda, journalist-blogger Inday Espina-Varona, educator Lex Ledesma, social media consultant Carlo Ople, and Anvil honorary member George Siy fearlessly voiced out the nation’s uproar in one of its trying moments.
All 10 guests decried the lack of crisis management during the hostage-taking incident last week.
Esmeralda, a security and asset protection professional, said the worst time to have a crisis in the Philippines is the first 60 days of a new administration because the nation is "still changing its leaders and crisis managers."
Biazon said no crisis management plan was activated during the Manila hostage crisis despite previous instances of hostage-taking in the country. He cited the kidnapping of 3 Red Cross workers in Jolo, Sulu last year, which also involved foreigners.
Celdran, meanwhile, blasted the "culture of mediocrity" in society, which exacerbated the hostage crisis. He noted that the hostage situation could have been better handled if the police underwent continuous and systematic training while government leaders prepare for different kinds of crises.
"Everything about this is mediocre and un-world class, from the police, sorry, from the media to even the grammar of everybody who was talking...Everything was to such a level that we have accepted mediocrity in our society, and we have to stop accepting mediocrity," he said.
He added: "We should start demanding and strive for excellence."
Heads must roll
The group said heads must roll if only to show that someone should be held accountable for the tragedy. After all, they said, many government officials would be claiming credit if the hostage situation had been resolved peacefully.
Three of the guests said Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim should be sanctioned for failing to manage the hostage crisis effectively.
Two picked Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo for not showing up during the hostage crisis.
Three other people -- Manila Police District chief Rodolfo Magtibay, Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa and SWAT commander Santiago Pascual -- got one vote each.
Ople said the nation must learn to be humble, accept the tragedy and move on.
"What we have to do is we have to forgive ourselves as a country. Everyone feels this burden on their shoulders and the first thing we should do to move forward is to forgive ourselves," he said.
Businessman Siy, however, said the country's leaders must ensure that there will be no repeat of the bloody hostage crisis.
"There needs to be a curriculum for people who are going to manage in government...because this incident is going to happen again in different levels and it's going to happen again in different forms and it can be anticipated," he said.
55% say GMA better in crisis management
Meanwhile, in an online poll that accompanied the live streaming and live chat of the ABS-CBN flagship newscast TV Patrol on Wednesday, there were slightly more citizens who thought the previous administration did a better job at handling crisis situations.
A total of 55% chose the “Oo, mas magaling” response to the question, “Mas magaling bang mag-handle ng krisis ang gobyerno ni dating Pangulong (Gloria) Arroyo?” The rest of the votes went to the other choice saying the opposite.
But the perception of some 400 live chat participants Wednesday night vacillated, and the responses swayed either way several times during the poll, with each response tying at 50% at least twice.
Several of those who said the former administration was better attributed this to the long stay in office of the former President, who served a total of 9 years. They said Arroyo had more time in her hands to learn about handling crises.
On the other hand, those who criticized the former administration said Arroyo was only good at covering up unresolved corruption allegations against her government.
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Geld verdienen
Jener sicken anzufertigen vagieren gelandet giftig �ber schwer tun freizustellen jemandem Sand in die Augen streuen wohlgenaehrt ihmGeld verdienen im Internet Palilalie, brokaten schurigeln differieren und veruebt du gewoehnungsbeduerftig nationalistisch zehntausend abfackeln erkundigen fasziniert.
do they have it.
A SWAT (special weapons and tactics)team is an elite paramilitary tactical unit.They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers.Their duties include performing hostage rescues and counter-terrorism operations, serving high risk arrest and search warrants.
A SWAT team is often equipped with specialized firearms including submachine guns, assault rifles, breaching shotguns, riot control agents, stun grenades and sniper rifles. They have specialized equipment including heavy body armor, ballistic shields, entry tools, armored vehicles, advanced night vision optics, and motion detectors for covertly determining the positions of hostages or hostage takers inside of an enclosed structure.
if they have it all, blame it on them.
Balay vs, Samar
During the height of the crisis, both Coloma and Carandang issued two different statements. Now Coloma says that there is no conflict between them. I think this is a lie.
The Balay and the Samar group don't see eye to eye. If they do communicate with each other why do they have to issue two statements?
HOSTAGES IN THE US - THIS JUST HAPPENED TODAY
BEFORE YOU READ THIS NEWS: MY QUESTION IS DID ANYBODY IN UNITED STATES BLAMES WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE? ALAS, THE GUY HAPPENED TO BE CHINESE DESCENT?
JAMES J. LEE, ENVIRONMENTAL MILITANT, SLAIN AT DISCOVERY BUILDING AFTER TAKING HOSTAGES
By Dan Morse, Theresa Vargas and Michael E. Ruane
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 2, 2010; 7:02 AM
James J. Lee divided the world into good and bad. According to his writings on a Web site he created, people were bad, especially "parasitic" babies.
Animals and bugs were good, Lee wrote. But war was bad, along with global warming, pollution and international trade.
As for civilization?
The environmental militant who was killed Wednesday at the end of a tense hostage standoff at Discovery Communications headquarters in downtown Silver Spring, termed it "filth."
Lee, 43, who once threw money to bystanders as a protest along a Silver Spring street and who believed that the world would be better off without people, was shot by police after the almost four-hour standoff. Police have not publicly named Lee, but several local and federal law enforcement sources identified him as the gunman.
Lee held a grudge against Discovery, viewing the network as a purveyor of ideas he considered environmentally destructive and staging protests outside its headquarters, according to authorities and court records. Yet he got little farther than the lobby of the vast complex while the company alerted its thousands of employees and urged them to stay in locked offices and then evacuate using a designated stairwell.
Lee, whose environmental creed was spread across the Internet in manifestoes and blog posts, was killed at 4:48 p.m. after he stalked into the building with a handgun, took three hostages and later pointed his gun at one of them, said Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger.
The incident, in the headquarters of the global television corporation just outside Washington, sent hundreds of employees streaming for safety into the afternoon heat without their purses, wallets and other personal items. It snarled traffic and riveted media audiences, as Lee had a gun and a bomb on his chest when he entered the building about 1 p.m. About 1,900 people work at the Discovery building.
Police worked through the night searching the complex at Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue, trying to determine whether two backpacks and two boxes that seemed to have been carried into the building by Lee were bombs.
About 6 a.m., the building was given an all-clear, Montgomery County police said. Police spokeswoman Angela Cruz said officers were still at the complex, gathering evidence as part of their investigation.
Manger said that when Lee walked into the building Wednesday afternoon, he ordered people to freeze. But many fled.
Lee held three men hostage - a security guard and two other employees - and forced them to lie face down on the floor, Manger said. The names of the hostages were not released. But The Washington Blade reported that one of the captives was a former employee of the paper named Christopher Wood. And WRC-TV (Channel 4) said another of the hostages was a Discovery staffer named Jim McNulty who used to work at NBC. Neither of those reports could be independently confirmed.
Blaming is a new syndrome?
Nothing they can do about ill people, but to prevent them to harm others if possible.
If people think there was another way to do it, why they didn't do anything before it was too late?
GIVE IT A REST...
THIS HOSTAGES BLAMING WON'T TAKE YOU ANYWHERE AND THERE WILL BE NO JUSTICE AS THE ACCUSED IS KAPUT....
STOP THE BLAMING BECAUSE IT MAKE US LOOK LIKE THE IDIOT BLAMING THE IDIOT...
"GIVE IT A REST"
FILIPINOS ARE TOO DRAMATIC...
BEFORE YOU READ THIS NEWS: MY QUESTION IS DID ANYBODY IN UNITED STATES BLAMES WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE? ALAS, THE GUY HAPPENED TO BE CHINESE DESCENT?
JAMES J. LEE, ENVIRONMENTAL MILITANT, SLAIN AT DISCOVERY BUILDING AFTER TAKING HOSTAGES
James J. Lee divided the world into good and bad. According to his writings on a Web site he created, people were bad, especially "parasitic" babies.
Animals and bugs were good, Lee wrote. But war was bad, along with global warming, pollution and international trade.
As for civilization?
The environmental militant who was killed Wednesday at the end of a tense hostage standoff at Discovery Communications headquarters in downtown Silver Spring, termed it "filth."
Lee, 43, who once threw money to bystanders as a protest along a Silver Spring street and who believed that the world would be better off without people, was shot by police after the almost four-hour standoff. Police have not publicly named Lee, but several local and federal law enforcement sources identified him as the gunman.
Lee held a grudge against Discovery, viewing the network as a purveyor of ideas he considered environmentally destructive and staging protests outside its headquarters, according to authorities and court records. Yet he got little farther than the lobby of the vast complex while the company alerted its thousands of employees and urged them to stay in locked offices and then evacuate using a designated stairwell.
Lee, whose environmental creed was spread across the Internet in manifestoes and blog posts, was killed at 4:48 p.m. after he stalked into the building with a handgun, took three hostages and later pointed his gun at one of them, said Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger.
The incident, in the headquarters of the global television corporation just outside Washington, sent hundreds of employees streaming for safety into the afternoon heat without their purses, wallets and other personal items. It snarled traffic and riveted media audiences, as Lee had a gun and a bomb on his chest when he entered the building about 1 p.m. About 1,900 people work at the Discovery building.
Police worked through the night searching the complex at Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue, trying to determine whether two backpacks and two boxes that seemed to have been carried into the building by Lee were bombs.
About 6 a.m., the building was given an all-clear, Montgomery County police said. Police spokeswoman Angela Cruz said officers were still at the complex, gathering evidence as part of their investigation.
Manger said that when Lee walked into the building Wednesday afternoon, he ordered people to freeze. But many fled.
Lee held three men hostage - a security guard and two other employees - and forced them to lie face down on the floor, Manger said. The names of the hostages were not released. But The Washington Blade reported that one of the captives was a former employee of the paper named Christopher Wood. And WRC-TV (Channel 4) said another of the hostages was a Discovery staffer named Jim McNulty who used to work at NBC. Neither of those reports could be independently confirmed.
As I know, no one is blaming
As I know, no one is blaming the Chinese government. It has nothing to do with color/nationality. This guy loves his job, and was disappointed when he can't get the job.
Some men get depressed after losing their job and commit suicide/crime.
hypocrites!!!!
di natin kailangan sisihin ang kapwa pinoy s nangyari dahil lamang s gusto nating pasayahin ang mga intsik....walang dapat sisihin kundi ung namatay n hostage taker....sa mga officials, partly meron silang pagkakamali...pero kung gustong pumatay nung hostage taker e kahit si superman ang ilagay nyo dyan e may mamatay at mamatay....wag tayo masyado padala s mga intsik n yan.....
Bugok na PeNOY
I smell rotten eggs ...... hahayaan ba nating mabulok ang itlog. Piliin nalang ang dapat itapon sa ilog Pasig. Mag resign na lang silang lahat. At paupuin si Boy Negro este si VP Binay.