The Anatomy Of A Bloody “Debacle” (Updated)

The culprit in the horrific August 23 Manila hostage crisis has been pinpointed: PROTOCOL.

The way the investigation into the bloodbath is unfolding it was PROTOCOL that put supposed ‘knowledgeable and responsible ‘officials in a straight jacket, helped along by robotic analysis that conspired with the thought box labeled ‘this is just local’.

It was this mental handcuff worn by authorities that empowered a disgraced Manila police office to believe that he could get his job back by hijacking a busload of foreign tourist.

This was the monumental error – the insistence that the August 23 event was  “only a local incident not meriting its elevated classification as a terrorist case with national, even international, implication.

President Aquino is assuming the blame for the fiasco while the national police began a hostility organized public relations ‘assault’ showcasing their ‘skill’ at suppressing hostage taking incidents.

ABS-CBN NEWS is quoting the President as saying that  when he offered the DILG portfolio to former Naga City mayor Jesse Robredo, Robredo was asked to focus on such concerns as coming up with a comprehensive plan on delivering social services like relocating informal settlers in coordination with the local governments.

When I got him, I did tell him, that at this point in time, we’re trying to consolidate especially with our security forces, I will retain direct supervision on the PNP, until such time that he has addressed other concerns, specifically our promises to the informal sectors of our country.

Commenting on my Facebook page, Oliver Teves of the Associated Press saId the President dubbed the incident “the debacle at the grandstand.”

Scandalously, officials of the interior and local governments department and the PNP are insisting they did not err in calling in better trained and better equipped police squads even as it became obvious Rolando Mendoza was off his rocker.

The DILG undersecretary for police operations Rico Puno, a former shooting club range manager and reported practical shooting buddy and campaign aide of the President, has been exposed as a round square peg in a round hole.

PNP chief Jesus Versoza, who flew off to Cagayan De Oro at the height of the crisis, has completely washed his hands of accountability by opting for early retirement — what better to benefit from the automatic one rank promotion upon retirement.

So thanks to PROTOCOL, these two gentlemen will have their cakes and eat the, too.

DAMN!!!

Postscript

The PNP is putting on a show of its supposed readiness to resolve hostage taking incidents just as Versoza announced his early retirement.

Note that while the assault team members are armed to the teeth this time they still don’t have gas masks at the ready: