Bus Hostage Bungle

It's all over the news still, locally and internationally. The hostage crisis that claimed the lives of Hong Kong nationals as well as the gunman is over but the question still remains. Where did it all go wrong?

The police looked incompetent to be honest. Some of them weren't even wearing helmets when they surrounded the bus. There was no clear plan to get in. They were just smashing this window and that window and then some. They waited too long to move in after shots were fired. It was hard to watch on television. The fact that it was covered internationally didn't help.

Blame goes to the police naturally but personally, I think the media had the most fault in this incident. The gunman became agitated when he saw on the TV of the bus, that his brother was being arrested for some sort of charge. It was obstruction of justice I think. Anyway, upon seeing the arrest, he flipped out and started shooting. The whole damn thing shouldn't have been televised live. Godamnit, situations like this aren't some kind of "event". It's not some spectacle that should be shoved on every screen. Situations like this call for control. As soon as the gunman was shot dead, the media swarmed the bus to take pictures of the bodies. Vultures.

This incident reminds me off the time some rebels holed up inside the Manila Peninsula Hotel. The media were just everywhere. They were broadcasting live all the positions of our soldiers, bringing all sorts of commentary, jockeying to get the big scoop. We should have learned our lesson by now. Media coverage should be controlled in certain events.

I despise media in general. They think they're so special. They fancy themselves guardians of the truth. All they want is to get the story and play to emotions. They never talk about anything substantive. Whether the hostages live or die doesn't matter because it will make good headlines the next day.

The aftermath of the crisis is just terrible for everyone involved and our country. Everyone fucked up. Aquino is taking heat, (interested on how he handles it) the police force is taking heat, China is having a fit and we're getting all these knee-jerk reactions from our congressmen. Police officers were even spotted taking souvenir photos near the bus where people were shot to death. The government was perceived weak-kneed, indecisive and unorganized. The media were out of control. Everything just fell apart and the police looked like idiots in front of the world. What a big damn mess.

Wait two weeks until we all forget about it.