Grave Shame

Our representative to the Miss Universe pageant, Maria Venus Raj, who made it to the top 15 or Manny Pacquiao's winning glory in the ring cannot cover the bad record the Philippines has once again set in international television. 

The hostage taking did not only creep the wits out of me. It also made me conclude that the Philippine government is so dumb in dealing with frightful and horrid situations such as this one and the Philippine National Police (PNP), generally speaking though, does not only show transparent biases but also performed in cheap mediocrity with highly commendable plans and attitudes which scared tourists away from the country. Good job there, you guys!


I cannot blame Noynoy Aquino for not doing anything to stop the spill of blood in that Manila bus hostage but as the president of the Philippines, this issue has become a wake up call for him. A bugle being blown right into his ears which tells him clearly that it is not easy to deal with lunatic Filipinos especially when they have started to make their move. But he's the president, right? He's supposed to do what is expected of him -- negotiate and make that frustrated ex-police officer stop whatever he was doing. It is never true that the government cannot do anything regarding the hostage-taking. They were given brains to think, for goodness' sake.There must be ways, they did not just see it for they have been blinded by wrong and lack of procurement of informations and too much confidence to handle the situation. What happened next? Many died. Not just mere casualties but foreigners trying to enjoy the amiable atmosphere of another country. Poor people for believing that they are totally safe in the Philippines. What a slap on every Filipino's face for being branded as notorious, imitators, dumb heads. They finally proved to every one else that we indeed are dumb heads, in one way or another. What a great shame! 

The people who are aware of the hostage taking that has taken place could have made an earlier move to rescue the remaining 15 tourists inside the bus. Lucky enough for the released hostages for they have not experienced the painful and traumatic scenario inside that Hong Kong bus line for almost 12 hours. In that expansive amount of time, PNoy did not show up in the site to help with the negotiations. He wasn't expected to be there though but if only he could have made a move himself to outwit the insanity of the hostage-taker, then the whole drama could have been told in another angle. 


Poor thing! Not everyone died but all of them suffered from the grave monstrous frustration of Rolando Mendoza, 55 years old and a dismissed police officer who served the government for three decades and has impressed his co-workers with the awards and medals he garnered for himself. His purpose for holding those passengers inside the bus was to clear his name from the wrong allegations being pelted on him. And he wanted his old position back. But it seemed like it wasn't what happened exactly. There was a huge waste of blood and miscalculation of strategies which once again engaged the Philippines in one heck of a shame in its neighboring Asian countries. 


After the tragedy, the government should expect sharp criticisms and malign statements from the international press and prominent media men and authorities from across the globe. What a shame indeed!