Critic on Hostage Incident - Part I

As a white person married to a Filipina and father to two half dutch /
Filipino children, I feel for Philippines. I have sadness but I also have
frustration and anger towards Filipino culture (in some cases, Filipino
behavior is idiotic)…because I see it in my wife, in my in-laws and her
relations.

To most foreigners, we see and understand the bad things in Filipino culture
(and yet Filipinos do not understand nor see the bad in themselves, why
because you Filipinos think that you are good people because you are
Catholics or born-again. Let me tell you, there are bad Catholics and there
are bad born-agains).

This sad story just highlights the idiotic nature of Filipino culture and
how it impacts on the Filipino society. This bad side of the Filipino
culture was displayed over the world (via cable tv and internet, however we
have ABS-CBN so we watched it live). I will try and explain in English and
broken Tagalog:

Idiot 1: stupid negotiator
The negotiator only talked for about 30 minutes then gave up. That
is not how you do or practice negotiation skills in hostage situations. In
other parts of the world, most negotiators do it for 48 hours. They give the
hostage taker lots of food and water to drink and talk to him all the time.
The logic behind this is after 12 hours (of eating and drinking), they need
to pee or poo (kailangan wee-wee at tae), so he have to get out of the bus,
that’s when you need to attack him. Have you tried to talk on the phone when
ebs is starting to come out? Its very hard. This is a technique Filipino
negotiators need to learn. Yes, the hostage taker was given food…but it
should have been more over a 48 hour period. After 48 hours, susuko din ito.

Idiot 2: stupid swat team with a hammer
There was a stupid swat team who was hammering the window with a long and
heavy pile driver hammer. After 3 attempts he got tired, he needed to let go
of the hammer and give his gun to his partner so he can rest. Well, next
time try to work out in the gym, do some weights and jog to get fit. Sobra
taba pagod agad.

Idiot 3: emergency lock out on hydraulic doors
All tour buses have an emergency lock out for the hydraulic doors. It’s
located under the bus near the underside of the door. I saw on TV that they
were trying to find out where the lock out is…instead the Tabasco swat
hammered the door, what did it do…nothing, it’s still remained close and he
got tired some more. In other parts of the world, the tactical response group
practice everyday on how to attack or seige a hostage situation, they study
all type of vehicles (airplanes, buses, trains, boats etc) and practice how
to attack these positions. They study were the entry and exit are, where
emergency doors are and how to stop these vehicles (just ask the Israel
Tactical response group, they do this every day). Next time, study the
layout of the bus first. Filipinos tend not to worry about what may happen,
they only act when it is happening.

Idiot 4: Roping the door
Another swat team (the tababoy swat team have to be substituted he got
tired) tried to rope the door and pull it using the Isuzu police truck…what
happened? The rope broke….hellllloooo…..hydraulic doors are designed to
stand against a lot of force and pressure. A rope made of abaca won’t open
it.

Idiot 5: The bystander boy who got shot in the leg
A bystander got shot in the leg. Well, what do you expect? The swat team
should have quarantined and sanctioned the area. Example: put a ribbon or
barricade saying “Crime Scene” just like you see in the movies….or is the
PNP to poor to buy one of those. Al bystanders should realize that they are
not part of the event and if something happens to them it is their own
fault. Buti nga sayo, buhay ka pa !!

Idiot 6: Throwing tear gas into the bus
It is idiotic to throw tear gas into a bus when nobody knew how many people
were still alive. Of those dead people, I wonder how many died of tear gas
suffocation. Of course, PNP will not admit it, they will say that the
hostage taker killed them. I do not trust Filipino autopsy. Filipinos tend to
fake documents or stories to make them look good (it’s called ‘saving
face’). As far as the PNP is concerned, the hostage taker killed them and no
other investigation is required.

Idiot 7:Firing into the bus
This is one of the most serious idiotic actions they did. Firing into the
bus also creates ricochet (banda-banda). I wonder how many got killed
because of this? Like number 6, PNP will not admit it.

Idiot 8: Swat team entering after the tear gas
This idiotic act is the one that made me laugh (and I am sure all tactical response group in the world will be using this as a “don’t do” training video because of its ‘kenkoy’ effect). Two swat teams enter the bus after they put the tear gas…what happened…they have to asked for help from the people outside to get them out because they cant breath…why…because they forgot the gas mask. Next time do an inventory of equipment you need in case of emergency