Why?

Aug 27, 2010

Last week’s hostage drama in the Philippines which began at approxi mately 10:00 A.M. Monday, August 23 and ended at about 8:00 P.M. was watched in horror all over the world. It placed the Philippines “on the first page of six news websites including CNN and CWN.”

What a way to land in world news!

Based on news reports, the perpetrator in police uniform, Rolando Mendoza, was a Senior Inspector of the Philippine National Police (PNP), who was dismissed from his job by the Ombudsman and deprived of his retirement benefits on charges of kidnapping and extortion. It was a busload of 25 passengers, mostly tourists from Hongkong, of whom eight were killed and two critically wounded, with Mendoza himself getting killed after almost 11 hours of failed negotiations and standoff.

The Hongkong government thinks the police didn’t handle the situation well or it could have spared so many lives. Critics of P’Noy’s administration quickly jumped at the opportunity to point out that the tragedy was the result of the new president’s inexperience. Filipinos all over the world wondered how the situation took a turn for the worst when the hijacker seemed willing to talk, in fact, he even released 9 people after the initial negotiation. What drove Rolando Mendoza, a highly decorated police officer and known to his co-workers as kind and hardworking, to such an extreme and violent act?

Based on records, Rolando Mendoza was an exemplary policeman who served his office for nearly 30 years. He had a degree in criminology, decorated 17 times for bravery and honor and rose from the ranks and became PNP senior inspector.

His most famous feat was foiling Marcos’s attempt to take 13 crates full of money in a van which Mendoza and his team confiscated and turned over to authorities. That year he was chosen by Jaycees International as one of the Ten Outstanding Policemen of the Philippines.

But all that he had worked for, his name, honor, legacy and retirement benefits vanished when together with 4 other policemen, he was charged with extortion and kidnapping. Although the complainant didn’t show up at the scheduled 2 hearings and the PNP dismissed the case, the Office of the Ombudsman discharged Mendoza and his said accomplices and stripped him of all his benefits, including retirement. The 55-year old Mendoza, who was looking forward to retiring in January 2011lost all hope as he was quoted saying without his retirement benefits, what good was his life?

His brother Gregorio, also in the police force, blamed the Ombudsman for treating him “unfairly” and not giving him the chance to be heard. That was all his brother wanted, to be treated fairly, Gregorio agonized.

Not to trivialize the charges against Mendoza for, indeed, those are horrible crimes as well. But for the Ombudsman to not extend this man the right to be heard in a proper forum was wrong. People who are desperate resort to desperate measures. This was what happened to Mendoza.

Amidst mounting criticisms of the government handling of the hostage situation, President Aquino acknowledged some responsibility but vowed to look into the matter deeply and make those guilty of negligence pay.

Philippine police defended their actions bringing up the fact that the officers lacked the proper equipment and training but had risked their lives in trying to bring the standoff to an end. Nevertheless, they promised to review all events leading to the deaths.

There’s an expected backlash of this dark event in the Philippines, the tourism industry, first and foremost. But now is not the time to worry about it. The best thing to do is show the families of these slain tourists our government’s sincere efforts to lighten their burden, whatever and however it might be. President Aquino must revisit the police force and look more deeply into the issues dogging that agency, find solutions and implement them swiftly and efficiently.

The Philippine government’s duty is to the victims and their families first and a firm resolve to make our security and police forces very well prepared for situations like this second, will be a big step in the right direction.