Meditation of an Asian Bimbo

In the midst of the brouhaha that went on in the Miss Universe pageant, Manila was going through one of the most tragic, jaw dropping and blood curdling events in Philippine History where an ex policeman hostages a Hong Kong Tourist Bus.

Incident is already mind numbing but as for the people in the twitterverse, I can see the frustration on what the Manila SWAT should’ve done to control the situation. Sort of how people would’ve answered the final question for Miss Universe – Philippines.

Everyone wants to place their own two cents on the matter but in the end, it has happened and even though this person singlehandedly destroyed Philippine Tourism, all we can do is just rise from yet another mishap.

My surprise can no longer be seen knowing that yet another (ex) government official is causing all the commotion.

Inasmuch as we are all trying to get things in perspective, I think this article by BBC News on what they did wrong is very enlightening and quite sad the more u read through.

1. Determination

The first officers who tried to storm the bus were driven out by gunshots from the hostage taker, former policeman Rolando Mendoza. “They showed great courage to go on board. It’s very crowded, just one aisle down the middle of the bus. But once you get on board it’s not unexpected you are going to be fired at. Squads like this have to be made up of very special people, specially trained and selected for their characteristics of courage, determination and aggression. In this case they acted as 99% of the population would have, which was to turn round and get out. They didn’t seem to have the necessary determination and aggression to follow the attack through.”

2. Lack of equipmentThe police spent a long time smashing the windows of the bus, whereas explosive charges (known as frame charges) would have knocked in windows and doors instantly. “They had no ladders to get through the windows. They smashed the windows but didn’t know what to do next,” Mr Shoebridge says. “They almost looked like a group of vandals.” Their firearms were also inappropriate – some had pistols, some had assault rifles. Ideally they would have carried a short submachine gun, suitable for use in confined spaces.

3. Lost opportunity to disarm the gunmanThere were numerous opportunities to restrain the gunman, Mr Shoebridge believes. “The negotiators were so close to him, and he had his weapon hanging down by his side. He could have been disabled without having to kill him.”

4. Lost opportunity to shoot the gunmanThe video of the drama also shows there were occasions when the gunman was standing alone, during the course of the day, and could have been shot by a sharpshooter. “You are dealing with an unpredictable and irrational individual. The rule should be that if in the course of negotiations an opportunity arises to end the situation decisively, it should be taken,” Mr Shoebridge says. Either this possibility did not occur to the officers in charge, he adds, or they considered it and decided to carry on talking.

5. Satisfying the gunman’s demands”I wondered why the authorities just didn’t give in to all of his demands,” says Charles Shoebridge. “A promise extracted under force is not a promise that you are required to honour. Nobody wants to give in to the demands of terrorists, but in a situation like this, which did not involve a terrorist group, or release of prisoners, they could have just accepted his demands. He could be reinstated in the police – and then be immediately put in prison for life for hostage taking.” The Philippines authorities did in fact give in to the gunman’s demands, but too little, too late. One message promised to review his case, while he wanted it formally dismissed. A second message reinstating him as a police officer only arrived after the shooting had started.

6. Televised proceedingsThe gunman was able to follow events on television, revealing to him everything that was going on around him. This was a “crucial defect in the police handling”, Mr Shoebridge says. He adds that police should always consider putting a barrier or screen around the area, to shield the scene from the cameras and keep the hostage taker in the dark.

7. No element of surpriseIt was clear to the gunman what the police were doing at all times, not only because the whole incident was televised, but also because they moved “laboriously slowly”, Mr Shoebridge says. The police did not distract him, so were unable to exploit the “crucial element of surprise”.

8. Safeguarding the publicAt least one bystander was shot, possibly because the public was allowed too close. The bullet from an M16 rifle, as carried by the gunman, can travel for about a mile, so preventing any risk of injury would have been difficult, Mr Shoebridge says, but a lot more could have been done. “When you saw the camera view from above, it was clear there was little command and control of the public on the ground,” he says.

9. Using the gunman’s brother to negotiateRelatives and close friends can be a double-edged sword, Mr Shoebridge says. While they may have leverage over the hostage taker, what they are saying cannot be easily controlled. In this case, the gunman’s brother was included in the negotiations – however, at a certain stage he became agitated and police started to remove him from the scene. The gunman saw this on television, and became agitated himself. According to one report he fired a warning shot.

10. Insufficient trainingIn some parts of the Philippines, such as Mindanao, hostage taking is not an uncommon occurrence, so the country has some forces that are well trained in the necessary tactics. The detachment involved in Monday’s incident clearly was not, says Mr Shoebridge. After smashing the windows, one of the officers eventually put some CS gas inside, though “to what effect was not clear” he says. A unit involved in this work, needs to be “trained again and again, repeatedly practising precisely this kind of scenario,” he says.

Sad to know that this is the case. What’s even sadder I think is that this might mean there will be more budget allocated for such “trainings”, the more corruption ensues.

I think they just have to re assess their training curriculum. Maybe a little bit less of this…

Sad!

My heart goes out to the families of the victims.