Bloody end to Philippines hostage drama

navsog... Well I do work on a foreign land because my country can't provide better opportunity, true but my country did offer me something and that's a good education to work abroad. There are international engineering companies back home I just don't know if they competed with Bechtel. Palafox is one example though it specialized more on architectural services. You see my friend I don't have any children yet because I'm not one of those people who you are comparing to having 6 children when can't even afford to raise one. My comment on Bill Gates is about your comment on (What have Filipinos AS a PEOPLE *achieved*? That is the REAL question that we need to ask ourselves. Or maybe you proud pinoys can give me an answer but for chrisssakes no Pacquiao or Pempenco alright!) Just like I said not all can be Bill gates, like not all can be Pacquiao or Pempenco but being a good well educated citizen is enough to make a country proud and that's vice versa. If you know how competitive finding work in the P.I., having good grades, a degree and don't add the experience yet because it's still not enough it's easier finding work abroad. FYI I'm working here because it's really an opportunity and I'm just being a good son, I just want to listen to my parents just this once but If I didn't care I'll be working back home with minimum wage waiting to get my board exam. To tell you the truth working here I realized that Philippines got better engineers, architects and firms though we don't have enough resources mainly financial to invest. They would eat the competition alive.

having a good education is not exactly an achievement. here's your average filipino who after finishing his 5-year engineering left his country to seek "better opportunities" abroad simply because his country have nothing to offer him... but then, goes to a foreign land & say "i'm proud of my country"??? a country that has nothing to offer him... except maybe the "proud" achievement of manny pacquiao & charice pempengco. if i were in your shoes, i would be proud if i went to a foreign land because my 100% filipino-owned engineering company brought me there because they have bagged a billion dollar contract from the qatari government. you may have good educated & successful engineers here, but why can't you have filipino engineering companies competing with foreign companies like bechtel? isnt having a good education enough??? or you people is having great difficulty becoming successful as a collective group because of your crab mentality?

you see my friend, it doesn't need a bill gates to correct your country's woes. for example, why should you have 6 children if you can't even afford to raise one?! that's just a simple common sense & yet, millions of you people don't get it!

indeed, how you get your education is one thing, but using your education is another... & is far more important.

be proud for the right reasons. im sorry... & oh by the way, why are so many of your "college graduates" working abroad as domestics & servants... or locally as call center agents?

legal_pad... There are government agencies in the Philippines capable for these kind of situation and they did offer their assistance but everyone wants to be a hero, didn't consider what should be right for the situation. They should have suck their pride and let others do what they can't do.

Here is one thing I don't like about the Phillipines Government and the abuse of citizens, specially the rights of speech and freedom of the press.

Currently the local media. (All TV channels) are going through a major accusation of responsability for broadcasting the intensive drama of the hostage taker, with the excuse that the live broacasting was divulging strategic maneuvers via the TV while Mendosa watch it all, given him advance notice.

I dont know the final outcome of this isuue, but to use the local media as a scape goat for their Government own errors is not the way of doing business in my own opinion.

I understand the press should be limited to a certain point in a situation like this, due to the broadcasting and tactical advantage to the hostage taker, but hold the press responsible completly is not fair and square.

No disrespect to the Pinoy law enforcement officers who where there taking bullets from Mendosa weapon, the responsability lays down completly in the Government for not funding proper training and better equipment not the press and the truly cops who exposed themselves with honor and duty.

Think about this, with the whole history of guerrilla wars, numerous hostage taken for ramson, kidnapping all this crap happening in the Phillipines after WW2, they don't have nothing in writting on how to deal with a stuation like this.

Unfortunate, It will happen again and again, this not the end of it.

Basically today in the Phillipines you pay for security, look at the enormous quantities of private security guards firms that are working in every public and local location in every major city in the Phillipines.

That just tells me, that the thugs are running free and with out disregard towards citizens and business. The Police is overwhelm and out gunned and out number....

Being a good well educated citizen is enough to make our country proud especially when you're at a foreign soil. Not all can become Bill Gates.

Any schmoe can wear a shirt bearing the flag of the Philippines and shout to high heavens how "proud" he is to be a Filipino. But to be OBJECTIVELY and CONVINCINGLY proud of something demands more than just an expression, much less a t-shirt, of said pride. Pride in a nation requires that said pride be SUBSTANTIATED by REAL evidence of ACHIEVEMENT.

What have Filipinos AS A PEOPLE *achieved*?

That is the REAL question that we need to ask ourselves. Or maybe you proud pinoys can give me an answer but for chrisssakes no Pacquiao or Pempenco alright!

The Manila Hostage Crisis has been recognized as one of the greatest mistakes of our Filipino leadership and our culture. It has shown right to the world how defective our culture and system are, right from the hostage taker and his family to the policemen in their bungled rescue attempt. Filipinos and foreigners have been sobered and saddened by the events. Many are saying that it has exposed various wrongs in our system, and various international analysts have commented, correctly, on what has happened.

Now one of the worst reactions that Filipinos have is to say, “We are still proud to be Filipinos in spite of what happened! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!” (side comment: yeah, ‘in spite of,’ Filipinos tend to spite other nations). Some Filipinos see it as a rightful action to save our image. It even seems that we are the only nation to use this kind of reaction. We try to remain a proud race despite another country’s people being killed on our territory.

Andrew Philip Cunanan: This guy certainly gives us nothing to be proud of.

Filipinos have to be shamed in order to realize their mistakes and change. This hostage crisis should have served as such an event. However, it seems that many Filipinos have immunized themselves against shame and instead tried to cover it up with trying to recover what’s left of their “pride.”

The problem is that proclaiming Filipino pride at this point is very wrong to do. From the Chinese point of view, statements of Filipino pride right now only serve to further degrade our already damaged image to the world. It is especially embarrassing now that Chinese are angered not only at the event, but at PNoy’s “smiling” visage and the pictures of disrespectful souvenir takers (a nice word is camwhores) circulating around the Net.

Saying that we’re still proud is seen as an act of arrogance, especially in the eyes of a nation that has been wronged by one of ours. It’s not just pride anymore. It’s hubris. If Chinese or even other countries see this, they’ll say, “Oh, you proud of yoh man who killed owah peepoh?” Certainly, Filipinos are not proud of that. But to foreigners, they rightly see that it’s funny for Filipinos to find any reason to be proud at all. Some people were killed. And the killer was Filipino. He represented us that day. That we cannot deny.

Oh my, Rep. Ronald Singson is in for a hell of a time in Hong Kong.

This issue probably reflects one thing: our culture and condition have become so pathetic, that we look to any aspirin to relieve the pain instead of getting the right treatment for the disease. We have a lot of problems: we send OFWs to the countries whose nationals we kill. We have a corrupt government, even the current one. Our population is growing to catastrophic levels, and yet an outdated church tries to stop nearly any method at population control. High crime, high poverty, high blood… we are unfortunately on the lower end (or even at the lowest end) when compared to our Asian neighbors.

We look to pride to try and lift us from the sober mood. We go back to pleasantry addiction instead of facing the problem squarely and trying to solve it properly. We try to focus on the positive in order to escape the negative. We seek escape by cheering Venus Raj, using the “pwede na yan” mentality to accept the 4th runner up position. That only shows how weak in character the Filipino culture has made of its people.

We should stop this obsession with pride. We need to acknowledge our mistakes. We Filipinos need to accept that the hostage crisis is a failure of our culture. Pride is especially a part of our culture’s failures. The failure is that we look for pride even if we should not!

Mendoza: a product of misplaced pride. And so is Pacquiao, Pempengco, Bata, etc etc.

I also propose that Mendoza is a victim of this stuffing of pride in the Pinoy ego. Mendoza after all was a decorated cop in his day. But why did he hostage foreigners at all? What do his demands to negotiators reflect? Also, why would a policeman like him feed narcotics to a suspect as a form of torture? Clearly, it was misplaced pride.

Since we are a Catholic country, let me front the question: why are we looking for pride when it is the top among the seven deadly sins?

I say, down with the pride. Let us humble ourselves. Humility is not negative. It is positive for a time like this.

We can still be Filipino. We don’t need to be ashamed of it. But we need to be ashamed of what happened. Yet shame is not the opposite of pride. Humility is. Let’s go in that direction.

And once we fix our problems can we truly be proud.

I'm sorry guys but: Mission Failed..

when I started this topic, it was closed but when someone opened this up, nothing happened?

What's up Mods? Hope it's not personal?

that letter is not true, there is no Bang Lu Min in the list of survivors

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/199320/spurious-letter-from-hostage-survivor-sparks-online-speculation

Postscript to the Luneta Bloodbath

by Eric Po on Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Mr. Mendoza was already upset even before he saw on television what the policemen did to his brother. The other tourists who remained inside the bus were complaining. Wei Ji Jiang wanted to go to the bathroom. Dao Chi Yu was hungry and the rest were just groaning and whining like they have forgotten that our lives rest in Mr. Mendoza's hands. The hostage taker, as you know him was really nice. He treated us okay and even let the elders and the children leave the bus. He said your policemen treated him unfairly. He was a policeman too and was accused of doing something he had no knowledge of. But your government didn't listen so he used us to get everyone's attention. Things would have never turned for the worst if he didn't see how his family was dragged out of their house and taken into custody. He was watching the news all the time as we huddled around each other behind the bus. He shouted some words in your language then started shooting in the air. A girl about my age started screaming. Mr. Mendoza demanded her to stop but she didn't understand English. God, he had to slash her neck with a knife just to put her to rest. Her boyfriend who tried to hit him was shot in the head. Tension was rising. You can see in his face how scared and confused he was. The bus driver ran away leaving him alone with strangers from a distant land. I can see him walking across the aisle, sometimes pointing his machine gun to one of the tourists. But he tried his best not to hurt us, especially those who really cooperate. I guess its in your nature not to inflict pain on others unless it was necessary. I remember him saying that he will free us before sundown and implored us to forget everything when we return home. But his words don't matter now. The policemen were trying to force their way in, while we all lied down to shield ourselves from bullets. Mister Mendoza blindly shoots at his enemies which I think kept them from rescuing us. I hear sobs under the chairs. Some were even shouting the names of their loved ones even when the air merely eat their words. Kevin Tang tried to escape when the glass door was was shattered, but one shot and he slumped on the floor with blood gushing from his mouth. Heavy rain pitter-pattered on the rooftop. In old Chinese saying, it means an end to a struggle. Finally, somebody was able to open the escape hatch at the back of the bus. Freedom. But I knew Mister Mendoza was still alive. I knew he was just waiting for a chance to strike back at his enemies. So I told those around me not to escape. Let the authorities come for us instead. Then there was gunfire. He was firing at his enemies with a machine gun. Those who were at the escape hatch fled abandoning us once again. It's like a nightmare with no end and to wake up means a certain death. Then somebody from outside the bus threw a canister. It forced out a black smoke that is so painful to the eyes and putrid smelling to the nose. People started screaming. We cannot breathe. Some ran in front of the bus but Mister Mendoza warned them of stray bullets. It was too late. One was hit on the head, the other was hit on the shoulders. Bullets were now flying. Its like the authorities thought we were all dead. Mister Mendoza finally admits his mistake and said sorry to everyone, dead or alive. He then ran towards the front of the bus where he would meet his maker. As he passed by my chair with bullets whistling overhead, I clutched my hand on the velvet curtain and wrapped it around my face. All I could think of was to stay alive - for my child who is waiting for me back in Xinjang.

I know I will survive, I will come home.

Bang Lu Min Survivor, Quirino Bloodbath

wrong strategy of PNP... it end the life of 9 hostages

it should not be ended that way if the side of PNP did careful moves including the media

they have triggered the hostage taker to act brutally in response to their misactions (when they took his love ones). if you could see and watch the whole video, the hostage taker did good in a way that when his demands were given, he did free some of the people inside the bus. it was a smooth transaction at first but ended to a tragedy.

caNdil...it's indeed a very sad incident, costing too many lives due to lack of professional approach by the law enforcement agencies. Police have normally a sniper unit everywhere and they could've been called in to shoot the kidnapper from distance.

...i feel sorry for those family lost their loveones, THE HONGKONG-CHINESE NATIONAL..

Whatever weapon it is...its doesnt matter if the police really knows how to use it..:)

Sad story.......wheew!

Snipers are normally the best solution to such hostage situations.

all i can say is...

a hostage taker is determined to kill and be killed even after he got what he want...

the govt should have imposed deadline, if not met, the sniper should have just killed the hostage taker, besides he is only one... compare to 20+ foreign hostages...

media made mistakes as well..

what a tragedy!

When the President of the Philippines became a guy it became more like a girl. During GMA administration if there's a case like this she always talks to her advisers and relay for military power. She always pushes for a deadlock not the other way around. Media didn't even have a luxury for a full coverage that time. I think they became weak.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11069616

Ten things the Philippines bus siege police got wrong

A security analyst who has worked in counter-terrorism with the British Army and Scotland Yard, Charles Shoebridge, says the officers involved in Manila's bus siege showed great courage - but they were not properly trained or equipped for the task.

Here are 10 areas where, in his view, they could have done better.

1. Determination

AdvertisementPhilippine police end Manila bus hijack

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 equipment

The 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 gunman

Mendoza's gun was not always raised

There 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 gunman

The 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 offer only arrived after the shooting had started.

6. Televised proceedings

The 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 surprise

It 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 public

This boy, a bystander, was hit by a stray bullet

At 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 negotiate

Relatives 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 training

In 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.

Police in the Philippines admitted today they had blundered in trying to end the hostage drama that resulted in eight tourists being shot dead by a crazed gunman as they sat in terror on a hijacked bus.

From British Paper - "Commandos fired dozens of bullets into the bus and struck at its windows with sledgehammers as they tried to storm it, but were forced to wait outside helplessly for more than an hour as the maddened hijacker used the tourists as human shields.

As a storm of criticism about police tactics erupted, Manila police commander Leocadio Santiago admitted: 'We made mistakes."

and he was all alone... how much more if he's accompanied with?

ZERO survivor i guess, with plenty of injured or casualty at the side of MANILA's Funniest! :(

I am sure plod would have succeeded..

britexpat .. after he took hostage those people. officials just cant say, "ok, here's your job. let go of the hostages." i dont think it'll work :)

still, the rescuers were so unskilled it was painful to watch.

I meant that they should have pretended to give him his job back, just to get the hostages released...

I even will not give his job back.. Corrupt, hostage taker!

Why didn't they just offer him his job back ??

When my wife told me about this today, I said was it the terrorist? she said no it was a corrupt police captain...How was this the answer for getting his job back....It makes me feel sorry for the inocent that died! what I saw on TV... I have seen an angry mob board a bus with more skill, they should fire all the police captains! Yet another black spot on a beautiful country!

4 dead according to GMA news. . another sad news from our country. .

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/199229/manila-hostage-taker-at-least-4-hostages-killed

Sad....these guys are learning the trade too fast, next will be an airliner.

"and the hostage-taker died of a gunshot wound to the head"

Is as far as I got.

30 mins just to open the bus door..

baldrick.... if you'll read the news and watch the details...

MANILA's FINEST USED MALLETs instead of shock bombs to penetrate their way ... now, are'nt they so FINE :P LOL

"That is how MANILA's FINEST WORKS!!"

It's also how Manila's scum work. A friend of mine was recently 'bumped off' by his wife who hired a thug to put a bullet in his head :o(

tsk tsk tsk... another sad way to end a day :(

It lasted at least 12 hours.. ~sigh~

I watched the live coverage.. :(

So sad..