Against the ominous backdrop of an impending and unprecedented tour bus hostage crisis, the documentary produced by National Geographic delineates the timeline of events as an odious event unfolded in its mise en scene.
Aggrieved by dint of his dismissal from the Philippine National Police force, Rolando Mendoza, the perpetrator, was decorated 17 times for bravery and honour. Back in 1986, the decoration of "One of the Ten Outstanding Policemen of the Philippines" was bestowed upon him as he stopped a smuggling attempt by then Philippine President, Ferdinand Marcos, in the nick of time.
Nevertheless, he was disgruntled after the Ombudsman found him involved in a drug case and declared the decorations null and void.
The Ombudsman clearly tipped the balance, making Mendoza masquerade as a police officer, accost and hijack a Hong Thai Travel Services tour bus in an attempt to pressure the Ombudsman to reinstate him.
As Mendoza boarded the bus, he demanded the bus driver head to Rizal Park and park the vehicle in front of the Quirino Grandstand, where President Benigno Aquino was sworn in earlier, at all events.
Everyone on board the bus was forbidden from moving. All the same, Mrs. Li, the first hostage released, was experiencing stomach-ache when she had no choice but to request to leave the bus. Much to her surprise, Mendoza agreed to let her alight, but only on the condition that she will come back.
However, police officers surrounding the bus asked her to stay in the shelter since the motive of the hijacker was still unknown. This, as Mrs. Li waited on bated breath for her husband to be released from the bus.
Mr. Li, Mrs. Li's husband, who was 73 years old when he was sojourning in the Philippines with his 66-year-old wife, recalled the most horrific moment for him was when Mendoza patted on his shoulder after agreeing to release him, saying only when Mendoza's case is taken to the Ombudsman will he be released. But eventually, he fled without incident.
Mrs. Li, who was among the first to escape, said she couldn't help but hug her husband as she teared up. "Tears of joy indeed." Said Mrs. Li.
All but snipers and the police were not allowed to stay at the scene due to possible dramatisation.
Mendoza, in the afternoon, posted a few notecards on the windows of the tour bus, saying something astounding will transpire after 3 p.m. that day. But until 6 p.m., there was no major events whatsoever, except that some more hostages were released, including all children aboard the bus.
But at 7 p.m., the flashpoint came. The Ombudsman did not even evince an iota of willingness to meet Mendoza's demands, only suggesting that they could consider suspending the implementation of withdrawing all the decorations. This certainly stuck in Mendoza's craw, who threatened to kill all the hostages still on board to call the Ombudsman's bluff, boding ill for what will become of the hostages still inside the bus.
Sound of gunfire was heard at 7:23 p.m., sounding the death knell for all hostages stuck inside the bus. Meantime, police officers shot at the tyres of the bus as Mendoza attempted to drive the bus, preventing the bus from being driven away.
At around 7:30, just 10 minutes after the bloody shooting, the bus driver, who had an eye for the main chance, fled the bus as a bit of pandemonium reigned in. He reportedly told the media that all hostages were killed. His statement had others who fled the bus earlier worrying if their loved ones had already sacrificed. But as it turned out, he just assumed that the hostages had met their demise when Mendoza was dead set against calling it quits.
Still, there was nobody moving in the bus, which engendered questions as to whether hostages were still alive.
And a friend in need is a friend indeed. Some men in the cabin saved women by shielding their bodies while sacrificing as Mendoza started to shoot frantically. Bedlam and mayhem ensued, with the SWAT team surrounding the bus in an effort to stop the sanguinary scene from aggravating, but to no avail.
Then, here comes the denouement. Mendoza's body fell out of the bus after he was shot dead by snipers. A huge sigh of relief from the hostages.
Having taken a few turns for the worse, at around 8:45 p.m., the situation had both the hostages and the police looking the worse for wear as the hostages appeared immensely emotional and taken aback while fleeing the scene.
After all hostages left the bus, there was chaos, mayhem, as even reporters were able to get on the bus and ambulances, in turn hindering rescue efforts, as suggested by the report vis-a-vis the hostage-taking incident.
Having survived the ordeal is one thing, but witnessing his arms completely injured, with a bit of pandemonium outside, spoke volumes for Joe Chan, one of the luckiest survivors in the incident.
The upshot of the crisis: Criticism from pundits and people in every nook and cranny of the world, or words to that effect.
Furthermore, inasmuch as a live TV interview with Mendoza was aired, the negotiators were unable to contact Mendoza in order to inform him of the good news that he had been reinstated. The tragedy, many believe, would not have happened, had it not been for what the reaction paper described as an overzealous media coverage.
Then-Philippine President, Benigno Aquino, said he would take responsibility for the botched rescue operation. Although he said it would take time for him to decide if any heads would roll, he didn't step down as requested.
The scalding expose of the incident also revealed that unlike what is stated in the rubric, several directives from the city's mayor and the President were not complied with, as distinct from being conformed with strictly, which stands to reason why the hostage-taking incident culminated in the bloodshed.
Suffice it to say, the incident may have given you goose bumps up and down your body.
As everyone commits to stopping hijackers and terrorists in their tracks, herein lies the rub: Although officials who were on the firing line have most resigned, have we gain enough experience to combat fiendish attacks launched by hijackers?
As evidenced, "The presence of hundreds of police officers there was of no avail. They weren't even able to neutralise the subject (Mendoza) and ameliorate the impact that the tragedy had on the hostages," Said Mrs. Li. "At first glance, Mendoza was a kind-hearted man who wouldn't dare hurt the elderly and children on board. But on second inspection, he became a cold-blooded murderer without a modicum of compassion." Which Mr. Li was quoted as saying.
The Philippines' National Police Force also lamented they should have done more to avert the tragedy. As such, they could have asked Mr. Li and Mrs. Li, who were among the first released, to get the inside scoop so as not to be outfoxed by Mendoza.
Next, when asked why he didn't answer phone calls from the then-Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang, President Benigno Aquino said Tsang wasn't the leader of the country, and it didn't behoove him to answer his call, which pundits say would have averted the tragedy.
All this, coupled with Aquino's incendiary remarks and reluctance to take the fall for Manila's mayor, led to an effusion of anger here in the Pearl of the Orient.
Aquino's musings on the crisis serve as a litmus test of his opinion on how to cope with poor security in his country, from which the Philippines gained notoriety.
The incident, meanwhile, effected changes to those who survived the incident. Joe Chan said having experienced such a dreadful crisis, he learned that lives could be lost within a second's time, and he should really cherish the time he has with his loved ones.
The searing expose of the tragedy stressed that one of the fatal errors was that the SAF (Special Action Force) team wasn't dispatched to combat Mendoza at the behest of a government officials tasked with decision-making. But instead the SWAT team was deployed. An SAF team member avowed that the SWAT team was conspicuously out of their depth, and it was the SWAT team's lack of organisation that predisposed the hostages towards death as a result of possible gunshot wounds.
People everywhere, especially in Hong Kong, and pundits were apoplectic with fury, launching a fusillade of criticisms against the Philippine government for its incompetence. The drama further played out for three years as the compensation issues remained a tabula rasa.
A sea change in the Philippines' security measures notwithstanding, kidnappings, hijackings and bombings continue to comprise the lion's share of crimes in the Philippines each year.
At the Quirino grandstand, with time ticking away as we enter a new era at a breakneck pace, only blurry memories of the horrifying disaster and the country being left in ferment remain intact.
And as the second year of the decade winds down, here's a noteworthy question to reflect upon: A decade after the tragic incident, are we still out of our depth to combat hijackings like the Manila hostage-taking crisis?
Works cited:
National Geographic "Inside: Manila hostage" (https://vimeo.com/57690855)
True visions "Manila Hostage Massacre" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWGQLA_IlPE)
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