The recent Manila bus siege gave President Noynoy Aquino another opportunity to exhibit one of the two things he does best, which is to do nothing. As the tragedy of the hostage situation was unfolding, shocked and curious Filipinos were wondering where P.Noy was and what he was doing the entire time. Until now, I have never seen his Facebook fan page inundated with hate messages, like “WHERE ARE YOU P.NOY? DUWAG KA!” or something to that effect over and over. On a normal day, you can see his fan page full of moronic messages, like “Hi Tito Noy! Idol talaga kita!”
Even up to the very end, I was kind of hoping and expecting that P.Noy would do the other thing that he does best which is, to make empty rhetorical statements. That way, perhaps the Chinese officials would have felt a little calmer. Unfortunately, he was unreachable even by the governor of Hong Kong, Donald Chang, who reportedly tried to contact him during the 12-hour ordeal.
It is now evident that even with a large communications team, P.Noy still manages to make himself unavailable to the task of communicating effectively. One of his communications secretaries, Herminio “Sonny” Coloma, should change the “F” in his 3Fs to FAIL, FAIL, FAIL owing to their failure to implement the “feed in, feed forward and feedback” that he wanted to introduce as a team.
As predicted before in my previous blog, P.Noy’s refusal to stay in Malacanang is proving to be a nightmare for national and international relations. Not only has he functioned on a nine-to-five schedule ever since he started his term, it is now beginning to emerge that it is proving quite difficult for international leaders to contact him because he does not stick around in Malacanang longer than necessary.
What the heck was P.Noy thinking?!? Why didn’t he make a statement earlier during the day? Even something as simple as “The Philippine National Police are on top of things” or “We are doing our best.” Could it be because P.Noy was certain from the beginning that the Philippine National Police were not really on top of things? Or could it be because the PNP were not really doing their best? Three hours after the siege ended, that is exactly what he confirmed to the Media – that the PNP need more training for this kind of situation. Well, obviously P.Noy wasn’t confident enough to assure anyone let alone the Hong Kong official that the Philippine authorities were doing their best.
As mentioned in another previous blog of mine, it is the average Filipino’s anti-elitist attitude or lack of specialised training and experience in a given field that produces a lot of amateurish professionals particularly in our police force. They are supposed to be there to protect the public and whose particular duties are the preservation of good order, the prevention and detection of crime, and the enforcement of the laws. The Philippine Media for its part, failed to act prudently and was said to contribute to the agitation creeping up on hostage-taker and ex-policeman Rolando Mendoza who reportedly was monitoring the news on a TV set installed in the bus.
If we can’t rely on the police for safety and the Media to behave prudently, who can we rely on? P.Noy should be very, very nervous because he should realise that he cannot rely on them to preserve his own life just in case he finds himself in a similar situation.
With eight Chinese nationals dead as a result of the stand-off, Hong Kong has now issued its top-level black travel alert for the Philippines. I’m pretty sure, other countries will follow suit with similar warnings. There goes what’s left of our tourism industry — all going down the drain. Other Filipinos who wear rose-tinted glasses are dismissing the incident as a one-off, saying that the disgruntled Mendoza is just one tiny speck of dust among millions of peace loving Filipinos. Oh yeah, tell that to the marines! Who in their right mind would come here after this tragedy? Perverts and pedophiles, maybe, because it will be a lot cheaper to come here now. Even more disturbing are those who say that hostage crises happen to other countries too. It’s as if that excuses the incompetence of the PNP and the way P.Noy handled it.
There are two things P.Noy Aquino does best, one is to do nothing just to avoid further gaffes. Frankly, his supporters always come out defending him when he does nothing. They always come out saying, there was nothing he could do or “we were waiting it out.” The next thing that P.Noy does best is to release empty rhetorical statements coupled with an arrogant grin like “We want a thorough investigation of everything that transpired.” The real question is Mr. President: and then what? Too bad he cannot blame this one on former President Gloria Arroyo.
About the Author
ilda has written 55 stories on this site.
Ilda is agent provocateur. She wants to help people realise that things are not always what they seem.
Comments
as if the philippines needed another problem this happens. very unfortunate that this turned out as badly as i expected. poor HK tourists.
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“The coverage of crimes in progress or crisis situations such as hostage-taking or kidnapping shall not put lives in greater danger than what is already inherent in the situation. Such coverage should be restrained and care should be taken so as not to hinder or obstruct efforts of authorities to resolve the situation.” –KBP Policy on Crime and Crisis Situations
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Aegis-Judex Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 9:17 am
My stat when I saw the camera on the cops in position went like this: “Broadcasting the locations of the police is not a smart move. Why? You need only one outside friend of the hostage-takers to relay the cops’ positions to the criminals. When that happens, the cops are screwed and so are some hostages.” The things that Rainbow Six (the novel) can tell you… considering that TC has to do his research, it’s reasonable.
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“Too bad he cannot blame this one on former President Gloria Arroyo.”
Ilda, you underestimate the arrogance of Mr. Yellowbelly and the Yellow Zombies.
Mendoza -> Declared Guilty of Extortion by office of ombudsman – Merceditas Gutierez
Merceditas Gutierez -> Under Arroyo’s Cabinet
Ergo, let’s blame Arroyo again.
- Yellow Zombies
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ilda Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 9:57 am
Did I write too soon?
It was just a matter of time before we heard the name of GMA from P.Noy yet again.
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How come ignoy’s feedback mechanisms like FB wall are disabled? The OP website comment latest is 16 Aug! Contrary to its campaign promises, this government is adverse to feedback!
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ilda Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 10:01 am
I just checked it now. They did disable their FB. Pikon!
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Good Job you losers! The PNP! the Media & especially NOYNOY!
NOYNOY – Bad Foreign Relations
PNP – Need More Counterstrike/Left 4 Dead hours in your training
Media – You Losers escalated the situation from Bad to Worse to “The hostages are screwed!”
At ang mga Usosero pa diyan nagpho-photo pa sa bus para mailigay pa sa Facebook!
Welcome to the Failippines! This place is getting more troublesome by the day… And the Tourism here now is SCREWED!
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good filipino citizens
http://i38.tinypic.com/v3d72g.jpg
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This kinda illustrates how serious Filipinos consider this matter to be:
Full story here!
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Aegis-Judex Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 9:53 am
Two words: GODDAMNED BATS!
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mel Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
The products of media sensationalism, low IQ, low EQ television programs!
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what about the flash game version of the hostage event?
Pinoy ang gumawa. Pinoy ulet.
Pnoooooy!
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Hey guys.
I was spending a lot of time reading (wading) through the hate-filled P-Noy FB fanpage. From the looks of it, it seems that the BIGGEST reason of the HK’er nationals’ outrages was because Ngoyngoy was smiling during the delivery of his statement re: the tragedy, and because of the inanely stupid airhead pic that benign0 posted.
Is Ngoyngoy so stupid he can’t even deliver an apology RIGHT? God. And what about those bimbos on the picture? They’re an effing EMBARRASSMENT.
This makes me want to cry. Jesus.
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Can anybody tell me when Noynoy has ever come out smelling like a rose in a moment of crisis? At anytime in the last 50 years?
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yooOOooo hoooOOOo0… the ampatuan clan could do a better job… bwa ha ha ha ha…
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My father told me that sometime in the 70′s there was a nationally-televised hostage-taking drama which showed the ineptitude of the then Philippine Constabulary (the precursor of the PNP) SWAT, which resulted in the death of the hostage-taker and hostages. He followed the newsfeed on TV yesterday and commented that the PNP employed the same 30-year old tactic. He wasn’t surprised that the results were the same.
Our police, as it is with our government officials, seems not to understand the concept of their job. They are suppose to protect the public. Instead they think their job is merely to overpower criminals. And if the public is injured, sorry na lang – which is pretty much how they operated for a long time and the public had no recourse. Unfortunately for them, the victims yesterday were foreign nationals whose government made a big international stink about the fiasco. And now we’re an international embarrassment.
Segueing to public officials: People in government seem to think that their purpose is to make money. That’s why we really don’t mind that they skim a little off the top from their pork barrels, get kickbacks from government contracts, extort a little bit “kasi maliit ang sweldo namin.” Government service is PUBLIC service. They are NOT suppose to do that. Not even “a little bit”.
Until we (John Q. Public) understand what government service (and police work) is all about, yesterday’s embarrassing event will be replayed for another 30+ years.
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ChinoF Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
From the looks of it, they didn’t even send real SWAT soldiers… those were just riot police! They think riot and hostage situations are the same? Or was the SWAT deployment blocked because higher-ups were quarreling on whose boys were gonna steal the glory? Truly unprepared forces.
And it happened under P-Noy’s watch!
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A nine to five president? looks like the voters, who elected P-Noy, got what they bargained for. later on, expect to hear “it’s not in my job description”.
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Lilly Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
I want a “Don’t blame me, I did not vote for Noynoy” bumper sticker.
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Has Noynoy apologized to the international community (to HK especially) anywhere during the length of his press statement? or after?
Was able to watch clips at youtube only. And whats bothering me is how smug he looks. I know you need to back up what your armed forces does, but you don’t have to be smiling right after a terrorist incident involving foreign nationals.
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None of the police ever thought of shooting out the TV in the bus. That could have created a media blackout for Mendoza himself. Though it could have been dangerous too.
Mass media is an ass in this country. They’re not the defenders of freedom anymore. They’re its destroyer.
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I don’t know; if I should laugh or shed tears to the way, we are treating the Hostage incident. A disgruntled Ploliceman went on to take hostages; killed several tourists; and had himself killed. People (osiseros at osiseras); making the unfortunate incident; as a tourist attraction. The Media people used it to boost their ratings. Can we see here: that a Nut Case policeman, grandstanding his killing spree at the Luneta Quirino Grandstand? I wish, he would had choosen, infront of the Malacanang Palace. We have a President, nowhere to be seen, during the hostage situation; or nowhere can he be contacted. Maybe, he is HIDING somewhere in a Toilet. This President has a problem of: (1) courage. (2) cannot lead a dire situation to a good solution. and (3) running away from a problem/crissis, instead of solving it. The Media promotion of him being a strong leader; has already proven otherwise: He is wavering… He cannot deliver!!! It is in the eating/tasting of the “lechon” that can prove the goodness of the “lechon.” E, sinabi ninyong malutong; makunat pala siya!!!”
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