Palace: No failure of leadership during hostage crisis
MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang on Tuesday said it is unfazed by the possible dip in President Benigno Aquino III’s popularity rating following the Quirino Grandstand hostage crisis.
In an interview, Presidential Communications Group Secretary Herminio Coloma said the dip in popularity is to be expected given the tragic outcome of the hostage-taking incident.
He rejected perceptions that there was a failure in leadership during the critical hours of the hostage crisis.
“Hindsight is the clearest of all visions…In our opinion, there is no failure of leadership. Ang ating pangulo po ay nasa kanyang tanggapan. He was exercising his role as a leader in the way he deemed fit, ginagawa ang mandato na binigay ng tao sa kanya,” he said in an interview on ABS-CBN morning show “Umagang Kay Ganda.”
Aquino has been heavily criticized for failing to peacefully resolve the 12-hour hostage crisis that saw 8 Hong Kong tourists killed inside a hijacked tourist bus in Manila.
Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman on Monday said Aquino mobilized various Cabinet members at the height of the hostage crisis. She said Palace officials did not broadcast their movements to stop hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza from "upping the ante" in the negotiations.
She said President Aquino was at the command post at the Emerald Restaurant and had discussed the situation with Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo.
Political analyst Gladstone Cuarteros, meanwhile, said Aquino’s decision to keep a low profile during the 12-hour hostage crisis will have an effect on his trust ratings. He said Filipinos expect their leaders to step up and take charge during times of crisis.
“Sa ganoong kahaba-haba na krisis, nasaan ang Pangulo natin? Pwedeng nagtalaga ng isang emisaryo o tauhan at nagbigay ng utos kung ano yung gusto niyang mangyari,” he said in an interview.
He added that the President need not be physically present during the hostage crisis but should have issued a statement that the situation was being addressed. He said the President could also have assigned an undersecretary to resolve the problem.
Cuarteros said many Filipinos did not know where Aquino was during the 12-hour hostage crisis, which does no reflect well on the President.
He added that he expects the government to work on silently repairing the damaged relationship between the Philippine and Chinese governments.
Dr. Prospero de Vera of the University of the Philippines also noted that it was a huge mistake for the President not to have handled the crisis directly.
"Filipinos have a very high expectation of their president, and they want a president who responds in times of crisis. And this recent incident has shown that people were dissatisfied with the response of the President," De Vera said.
He added: "I expect the approval rating to go down from between 10% to 15%."
For another political analyst, however, a decline is just normal especially in the case of President Aquino who started his term with a record-high trust rating.
"Kahit wala 'tong krisis, mangyayari talaga iyon. Pero ang babantayan mo diyan siyempre, kung gaano kabilis, hanggang saan bumagsak," said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Economic Reform.
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NO FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP
THERE WAS NO LEADERSHIP THAT'S WHY. AND THERE WILL NEVER BE, REMEMBER THIS, AS LONG AS NOYNOY STAYS AS PRESIDENT. MAY GOD SAVE THE PHILIPPINES AND ITS PEOPLE.
Bugok na PeNOY
P-Noy failed as a Leader and as a Man. Save the Filipino people from embarrassment. Go on with yer Life Dude and be happy.
He didn't do anything
Exactly what did NoyNoy do during the Crisis? Nothing
What did NoyNoy do after the Crisis? Nothing. Basically he didn't do anything. Yehey.... His government a big joke...
OUST PNOY ----- LET JOJO-BAMA BE OUR PRESIDENT
PNOY HAS CLEARLY DISPLAYED THE PSYCHOLOGICAL INCAPACITY TO BE OUR PRESIDENT
PNOY is over dependent on his slow motion, 3-stooges communication team, unable to answer important phone-calls even in life & death situations, he is forgetful, has poor crisis management skills, unable to control internal factions, lacks self control, can’t even control his smile in times of mourning, inconsistent decision making, too SSSSSSLOWWW to react, has double standards, does not have good judgment because he favors friends over expediency, lacks decisive action and vindication, unable to accept responsibility for anything, works harder to cover up and protect his friends than to solve the problem at hand, very quick to finger-point and use non-family as scapegoats, very quick to deny without taking concrete corrective action.
I say we impeach PNOY, and allow him to spend more time with his favorite nephew "JOSH" whom he can mentally associate with, and let BINAY take a crack at the presidency instead.
It's about time!
A chain smoker Commander-in-Cheap and a sunog baga Elective Secretary, are these great inspirations or what? I'm in, all the way! Enough with the mongoloid Prez!
DEAD IS DEAD!! MILLIONS OF PINOY ARE STILL ALIVE!! MOVE ON
HOSTAGE TAKING IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW BUT THE MEDIA IS NOT SHOWING IT "LIVE".. PLEASE FILIPINOS AND GOVERNMENT, LEARN FROM THIS!!AND TAKE NOTE..ONLY THE CHIEF OF POLICE IS TALKING ON THE NEWS CONFERENCE! IT'S OVER AND AGAIN LIFE WILL MOVE ON!! DEAD ARE DEAD!!
NEWS UPDATE SAYING TAH HOSTAGES TAKER IS SHOT DEAD!! BUT NEWS MEDIA IS NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS NEWS LIKE WHAT THE PHILIPPINE MEDIA DOES..
LIFE MOVES ON OVER HERE...THERE ARE LOTS OF BETTER THINGS TO DO..IT'S JUST AN INCIDENT OF SOME DESPERATE AND OUT OF MIND PEOPLE TRYING TO END THEIR LIFE.
MORE SO..PRESIDENT OBAMA IS IN THE MIDDLE EAST DOING HIS JOB...OH WAIT..DOES HE NEED TO HANDLE THIS HOSTAGE CRISIS??? NOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! THIS IS POLICE MATTER !!
SO FILIPINOS..GROW UP..MOVE ON !! THIS AIN'T HELPING YOUR JOB, YOUR IDENTITY, YOUR FUTURE..
AND THE NEGOTIATIONS TOOK ONLY 2 HRS WHILE THE WELL EQUIPPED SPECIAL FORCES MOVING ON , PLANNIG WHAT TO DO AND WELL COORDINATED...IN SHORT ..HINDI NA CORRUPT ANG PONDO NILA TO BUY RIGHT EQUIPMENT AND PROPER TRAINING FOR THIS CRISIS!!
Kaya pala
"She said President Aquino was at the command post at the Emerald Restaurant and had discussed the situation with Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo."
Sabi ko na nga ba lumalamon itong Pangulong ABNoy habang nagaganap ang hostage crisis kaya hindi nakapag-issue ng statement kasi puno ang bibig. Natulala si Jesse at si Mayor Lim naman ay nag-decide nang kumilos kasi walang pag-asa kay Amo na nagawang kumain pa. Sure, there's no leadership crisis during that time, obvious ba? So the biggest question is, kailan lalabas sa DVD ang hostage movie na ito sa Quiapo? Sana cheap lang per copy kasi walang happy ending at palpak ang bida, si ABNoy.
Walang ginawa si Pnoy
ang presidente ay dapat involved siya dito kasi may mga foreigners doon, kailangan natin ang tourists dito sa bansa natin para makapagdagdag sa ikalalago ng ekonomiya natin. Walang action, walang executive decision na ginawa.kaya malaki talaga ang pagkukulang ni Pnoy dito. Maghirap pa tayo ng ilang taon at marami pang mawawalang opurtunidad para umunlad ang bansa natin dahil ang presidente natin ay incompetent mula pa noong senator siya.
Repercussions????!!!!!
The Filipinos do not care about PNoy's rating whasoever! The Filipinos care about who would take responsibility in cases such as Mendoza's carnage!!!
Just remember that Jesse Robredo is being questioned at large by the people for his inability to get himself involved on the decisions made by the ground response unit when he is the DILG secretary! As repercussion, he also questioned the PNP Director-General Jesus Versoza to explain his side why he left Metro Manila at the height of the hostage-taking incident!
Palace said that they assigned DILG Undersecretary Rico Puno, and not Robredo, to monitor the situation; and Puno as well defended Verzosa who took the responsibility down to the ground commander, C/Supdt. Rodolfo Magtibay, because he was in Cagayan de Oro.
Meanwhile, PNoy said that he was misinformed and now again Puno said that the president has been informed about the crisis early in the morning of August 23.
What is going on? Do these “political officials” think that the Filipino people are stupid?
Benigno Aquino III, President of the Philippines, what the “f**k" is going on?
I voted for you but you nominated these “worthless” DILG Secretary and the DILG Undersecretary including this pathetic PNP Director-General, PNP Chief Superintendent (MPD) and the Manila’s mayor to bamboozle the Filipino people at large!
What the “f**k” is going on???????????????????????
On Superman, Batman and Pnoy
Hanep talaga ang mga pinoy. Sa lahat ng mga problema ng Pinas kailangan nandoon si Pnoy? Noong nakaraan sa hostage crises involving foreigner with Abu Sayaf, etc sa Minanao ay wala namang presidente doon na nag supervise. Eh, ngayon naghihiyaw na kailangan si Pnoy sa lahat ng bagay.
Are we putting all the countries hope on Pnoy alone and blame him when such crises comes up?
We have a youg government who hasn't made major changes and improvement to the current inutil situation of our country so let's give them some time. It's not an overnight job. Aftr 9-years of mismanagement of Arroyo it is expected for more of this to happen.
Just upgrade and toughen the security forces of the government and we will be fine.