The Manila Hostage Taking Incident: A Tragedy

The Manila hostage taking incident is indeed a tragedy that our government should learn from. The death of Chinese citizens might have been avoided if the people (police, politicians and other government officials) have made the right decisions. In this case, somebody ( or should we say several people) made the wrong decision.

I would like to disagree to a statement made by Hon. Mayor Lim of Manila, that the SWAT team were properly trained and do have enough trainings. Even a low grade student can tell that what had happened is a proof that the police did not show how a SWAT TEAM should do in hostage taking situation.

They even lack the basic equipment to be called an elite force of the PNP. These are also observed by many people;

-some do not have kevlar helmet
-some do not have bullet proof vest (unless they have anting anting to catch those bullets)
-ladder appropriate for SWAT
- hammer and rope inappropriate for the situation
- used tear gas but they don't have gas mask
- and many more.....

In social media sites, some Filipinos who were disgusted on what happened even change the meaning of SWAT to Sugod Wait Atras Tago and many other acronyms.

And lastly, the officials handling the hostage crisis failed to follow the basic protocols in handling the situation.

The President should not be complacent on this incident. This hostage taking may be an isolated case but it involves other nationalities. The question right now for many tourists; Is it still safe to travel to the Philippines?

Our relationship with other countries is also affected because of the manner the Philippine government handles crisis like the Manila hostage taking incident.


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