Comedy of Errors Continue:“Nakakahiya”

Hurts “Only when I Laugh”


There is total consensus that the tragic death of 9 tourists at the hands of dismissed, and eventually slain, policeman/hostage taker Rolando Mendoza involved many major errors on the part of the police forces handling the incident.

For example, there is the full, uncontrolled TV coverage that enabled Mendoza to see exactly what was happening at the site and wherever the cameras went thus undermining the police’ ability to manage and control the negotiating process. This inanity is compounded by a member of Congress who reportedly stated that he was filing a bill to prevent media from future coverage of similar incidents. “Earth to Congress: The police already have this authority and power!!”. The problem is we have incompetent police, the result, in large part, of the massive and endemic corruption in the police organization from top to bottom!!!

The jokes keep piling on!! Here is Mayor Alfredo Lim saying that Mendoza’s brother, also a policeman, was not ordered arrested by him but that he only ordered to have him handcuffed. Mr. Mayor, when a person is dragged out of his house by policemen and then handcuffed and brought to the scene of the ongoing hostage crisis he is by all definition “arrested”. The distinction you are trying to make is asinine, to say the least!!

But wait you, Mayor Lim and our Congress, are not the only jokers. There is Mayor Sonia Torres Aquino of the town of Tanauan where the deceased Mendoza resides, sent a Philippine flag to be draped on the coffin of the murderer!! And what’s more the whole world saw this because the media showed images of the flag draped coffin on TV. Needless to say the Chinese government went bonkers that a mass murderer is treated like a fallen hero!! But wait maybe Sonia Aquino has a point here: our people are so used to corrupt policemen that when one is killed it means there is one less extortionist in uniform and is indeed a cause for hero treatment. Excuse me but this is so pathetic and comical. I'm being sarcastic, of course.It hurts only when I laugh.

Message to Congress and President Benigno Aquino III: Stop the Zarzuelas that you call “investigation”. Close this circus down. Find someone you can trust who has impeccable credentials and credibility and have him or her conduct this investigation out of the public eye and once completed release the results first to the Chinese government, and then to the nation. I know it is a challenge to find someone who enjoys this kind of trust and credibility. Perhaps you can ask former finance secretary Jesus (Jess) Estanislao to head such an investigation.

Concurrently, try and look for a few ex-US Marine drill sergeants and have them whip up the police force into fitness. Contract an international team of hostage experts and have them train police and military on the handling these types of crisis so that future ones are better handled. Training must be an ongoing, perpetual process, in all aspects of law enforcement and crisis management such as fires, floods and typhoon catastrophes’.

Then focus attention on cleaning up the country’s peace and order infrastructure and rid it of corrupt elements. This probably means most of the police and military hierarchy as it is strongly rumored that up to 80 percent of all policemen are beneficiaries of graft money from such elements as jueteng operators smugglers, drug lords and corrupt politicians. Those who are not in on this level of corruption are involved, like the late Mendoza, in such rackets as extortion or other forms of tong.

The corruption circle is not limited to police or military. Many judges and prosecutors (fiscals in Philippine parlance) are also in on the take. So the approach that needs to be used Mr. President and Congress, is a total systems overhaul of the establishment. You promised the Filipino people an end to corruption, start with the police and military. If you can clean those two organizations up all other corrupt outfits that populate all levels of government will fall like the proverbial house of cards, because you can then trust the police and the military to go after grafters vigorously. You might then be able to even sic a corruption free police and military establishment to go after the biggest thieves of all: those governors, mayors, members of Congress who are embroiled in all kinds of “businesses” and get them all to jail. Wouldn’t that be something!!

In the meantime, please keep all the jokers out of the public eye.
“Nakakahiya"