AT 7:05 P.M., along with the rest of the country and maybe the world, I breathed a sigh of relief after hours of anxiety. The kids started exiting the bus. The hostage crisis is over. The government says the incident was an embarrassment to the country. It’s certainly a stinging indictment of life in our country, in the eyes of some foreigners.
I hope John Nery blogs about what it’s like in the newsroom when situations like the hostage taking in Manila occur. Some things that went through my mind, watching the hostage drama on TV:
1. Jun Ducat was obviously a man who’d already gotten what he’d wanted with a previous hostage-taking: having gotten away with it before surely emboldened him to do it again; and furthermore, giving in to some of his demands might have emboldened him to ask for more.
2. In such a situation media really doesn’t know what to do; the only ones with professional training on the scene are the hostage negotiators. There was a Superintendent Miranda who sounded very professional, and sensible, and who said many protocols were broken. Let’s hope there’s a post mortem so that the authorities can learn from this awful experience.
3. I was quite appalled by the broadcast media in particular, crowding in on the area. It’s not enough to excuse it on the basis of the police not preventing them. A high-pressure situation could have been compounded by reporters and cameramen jostling around, and the closing minutes, when what could possibly have been live grenades were being passed from hostage takers, to Governor Singson, to the police, could have gone horribly wrong.
4. Vergel Santos said on TV that media has to remember its duty is to report, and not act as hostage negotiator. The radio stations were particularly anxious to do this and were given too many chances to do so. Santos pointed out radio should not, under any circumstances, have broadcast the negotiations between Senator Revilla and Ducat.
5. I have to say the most startling observation Santos made was that the whole drama seemed scripted to some people. A friend (who is not a politically-minded person) texted me to say the same thing. When Chavit Singson appeared it seemed pretty odd. By the time the whole thing ended with Chavit Singson holding a grenade at 7:08 p.m., then his aide took another one out of the hand of a man (after the man was seen jamming the pin back in one grenade) and then Singson emerged from the bus with Ducat emerging and then being taken in hand by Senator Revilla, I was tempted to think fact can certainly beat fiction anytime.
Setting aside comments that seemed to come too far from left field, what’s interesting is how the blogosphere represented a cross-section of public opinion that one could hear in the broadcast media, too. I think most people believe the hostage-taking was appalling and inexcusable. Some, thought will have a grudging admiration for the guy or even more. To others, it showed the dangers of a Robin Hood mentality. The whole thing, how now, brownpau said, seemed so typical: sloppy, grandstanding, essentially futile (and he reminds us of how Panfilo Villaruel’s dying breath was caught on radio). One blog suggests another great thing about the Internet and blogs when there’s breaking news: additional information, even photos, can pop up from anywhere and anyone.
- October 2009 (4)
- September 2009 (3)
- August 2009 (3)
- July 2009 (1)
- June 2009 (6)
- May 2009 (11)
- April 2009 (6)
- March 2009 (5)
- February 2009 (7)
- January 2009 (11)
- December 2008 (7)
- November 2008 (14)
- October 2008 (8)
- September 2008 (3)
- August 2008 (10)
- July 2008 (1)
- June 2008 (4)
- May 2008 (2)
- April 2008 (3)
- December 2007 (5)
- November 2007 (5)
- October 2007 (8)
- September 2007 (13)
- August 2007 (6)
- July 2007 (14)
- June 2007 (5)
- May 2007 (24)
- April 2007 (23)
- March 2007 (18)
- Foreign affairs (17)
- May 2007 elections (36)
- May 2010 elections (5)
- Media matters (22)
- Philippine politics (131)
- Religious issues (13)
- Rule of law (13)
- Terrorism (7)
- test (1)
- Uncategorized (41)
- US relations (16)
2 Feedbacks on "Kibbitzer Nation"
jay cruz
It is very unfortunate that this incident happened.
Please do not make a hero out of a “hostage taker”. He held hostage several children thats it and they should be man enough to face the consequences of their actions.
The scene during the crisis clearly shows to the people how inept our policemen (police organization) in crowd control. They should have cordon off the area to all non-essential personnel even the media should not be near the bus.
The scene is like a drama being orchestrated by a director…
romy
This madman had committed acts of terrorism and must be charged accordingly but, thanks to Sen Jamby Madrigal, he can be charged only with BAILABLE offense of endangering minors and violating the COMELEC ban on illegal possession of firearms, since the law is SUSPENDED during elections. I am sure he know this loophole of the law.
Please Leave a Comment!