Hostage in Hindsight

The view is different when one is looking back. A literary artist said that except for historians, hindsight is the lowest form of intelligence. So, firstly, I will share some of my emotions when the hostage taking by a decorated ex- cop was happening in iconic Rizal Park. I prayed for the safety of our women and men in uniform, our media practitioners, tourists and everyone involved when it was happening. The whole wired world was looking at the tragic event and we even landed in the New York Times. The social media were tweeting to the hilt. So, after the fact, we have lessons learned.

Could have we prevented what happened? Was there something that we could have done to prevent the tragic event? In hindsight we make postmortem reflections as lessons learned. There is no excuse for hostage taking. It is a heinous act. I guess, one taking this route is ready to die. In this sense, the hostage taker is making a political statement. One predictor of rebellion is perception of injustice, rightly or wrongly. So, there is sense in the analysis that a skilled negotiator should have been appointed for the hostage crisis very early on.

Experts are saying that hostage taking is a desperate final attempt or a form of bargaining. The analysis is that Rolando Mendoza, probably thought that he will never be heard. And yes, there could have been success if it was handled better. How does one policeman go from being decorated to becoming an outlaw? His colleagues are saying that they know Mendoza as moral. So, from 1986 when he was decorated as one of ten outstanding policemen in the country to 2010, his feelings of frustration escalated to tragic titer or levels.

We all get frustrated in our lives at one point or another but there are persons who are prone to slide towards mental illness. When frustrated, most of us get off and move on while others develop psychiatric tendencies. There was a recent suicide in our school and so we, teachers, have been especially urged to spot some tendencies in our students. So, I have been watching out for both physical and other signs and symptoms such as depression and anxiety, sleepiness and thus insomnia, difficulty in concentration plus what we call the shut out syndrome ( physically present in class but mentally absent).

Did media exacerbate the inflamed feelings of the hostage taker by the live coverage? Someone said, yes to coverage but not live. Or just delay the coverage. A media expert said, we should never blame media. Reportage is what media people do. I believe that media practitioners are risking their lives by just being there to cover the incident for us who are ensconced in the comfort of our homes.

Mostly, citizen journalists in social media who were looking at the live coverage were saying that our men in uniform, our SWAT (special weapons and tactic police) team were inept, unskilled, incompetent, unprepared and lacked equipments. For sure, these need looking after by our government. Another analysis is that even if the systems for managing these types of crisis were in place, the officers in uniform did not feel at liberty to carry out their tasks in deference to higher officials who wanted to call the shots.

For the victims, they do need to heal and there is a standard protocol for
this : diffusing, debriefing but each victim must be treated individually as a special case.

The travel ban by the HongKong authorities or for their tourist nationals not to visit the Philippines is uncalled for. Can you imagine if the world also issued a travel ban to China during a time when there was melamine or lead poisoning that implicated China?

Life goes on for the Philippines. One foolish incident should not make life less beautiful for us in our lovely islands in the Pacific.