At Such A Time As This

The Philippines has just gotten out of an era where we could not care less about out country. The government was a bad choice to be company with. Now we have a new government. The Philippines is gaining its respect again. The Philippines is regaining tourists. The Philippines is getting back on track in its economy. Everything is going well. Apparently not. The hostage taker just had to do his "act" to pull down the whole Philippines in one single blow.

Let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Let us assume that he was framed about extortion and served injustice in the case. These are NOT reasons for Inspector Mendoza to result to hostage-taking. The sad part was, he had to result to killing innocent blood.

Blame it all on the police force. Was their capturing of Mendoza's brother wrong? I tell you, it was right in every way possible. The brother was going to the bus without authorization and had a gun with him. That is why he was arrested. Mendoza was outraged by it. So be it, still not the PNP's fault.

Blame it on the SWAT team. Say all you want, the sledge hammer went in the bus, the pulling of the hydraulic door was wrong, the tear gas was wrong, the flash grenades were wrong, the sniper team was wrong, and everything about the SWAT's operation was wrong. OK, FINE. They had done something wrong. However, we must not blame them for everything. Do you know their Rules of Engagement (ROE)? If not, then don't say anything rashly. Let us not forget that Mendoza was a police also. He knew how the force will handle things, and he planned it almost perfectly. I assume he had a good position inside the bus. This made for a more complicated operations than expected.

This is NOT A GAME that we play on the computer or a movie that we watch on the cinemas. I read many comments about how the SWAT should have handled the operations. They probably played too much Call of Duty Modern Warfare. Not everything we want to happen will happen in real life. The police cannot respawn themselves when they die. Therefore, utter care must be done, unless you want to be on the wrong end of the situation. We don't have modern equipments as well, so can we blame the police for that?

Blame it on the negotiators. Many suggested that they could have just tricked Mendoza into thinking that he will get everything he wants. This is wrong in every way. You actually want to result to lying? Christians and non- Christians share the same view, they don't want to be lied to. SO whatever happened to the Golden Rule? The negotiators respected Mendoza and gave him a fair treatment. It was apparently not returned.

Blame it on the media. I agree that the media is at fault for aggravating the situation. Fighting for "better" but unnecessary coverage jeopardized the whole mission. The police had a hard time because virtually all their positions are being covered by the media, and Mendoza had access to the coverage. This allowed him to plan everything to his advantage. What was the media thinking? Ratings is still more important to you?

Blame it on P-Noy. What? Come again? How could you always blame the President for something bad happening to the country? We did not see his face in media at those times. Why? Does it mean that he is not doing anything when we don't see his face on our TV sets? What is wrong with you? The President know better than how we portrayed him to be.

This is the sad part. A hostage- taking crisis revealed to us that WE DID NOT CHANGE AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. I thought we wanted change? If we want change, we ourselves MUST CHANGE! The media should be ashamed of themselves. All the Usiseros and Usiseras present at the crime scene should all be ashamed of themselves. You are not at all helping the situation. In fact, you are slowing the whole rescue operation. We should be ashamed ourselves for pointing fingers. I also heard that there were FAN PAGES in Facebook for this hostage-taking drama. Pictures were taken with smiles in front of the crime scene. Text messages were also circulated as if making this a light dilemma. Could we be any more serious? The situation is far aggravated by our careless acts. It is probably in the culture of a Filipino already. Wrong answer still, a culture of a people is always changing. It is not constant through time. What are we doing then? While we are developing a good culture, we are not releasing the bad culture we possess. It's sad that after everything we had gone through, the same thing always happens. Blame everyone for a situation, gossip about it, and entertain ourselves with it afterwards.

How should we act? We should all be FURIOUS. Not to the police, not to P-Noy, not to ANYONE BUT OURSELVES. WE have shown that we are still not acting as one nation ready for change. Shame on us.

I cannot do anything, however, but to pray for the country. More importantly, I would pray for every Filipino to start reflecting on their own and start changing the way they reacted to the crisis. It was a great loss indeed, and I am grieving for the things that happened that probably should not have happened. But the truth remains that it can happen anywhere around the world. It does not mean that because it happened in the Philippines, all Filipinos are bad and worthless. It is just wrong to conclude it that way.

At such a time as this, what can we do? Move forward.

How many more eye openers do you want to happen in the Philippines before you start CHANGING? Start NOW!