I sit here taking in the enormity of our recent hostage crisis. Intense emotions swirl through me: shock, disbelief, sorrow, disappointment.
How did it come to this, witnessing this confluence of staggering ineptitude, irresponsiblity, and insensitivity? Our police bungled, our news media cared for nothing but ratings, and the throngs of people nearby gawked and stared as if a play were being performed.
Watching our SWAT team carry out its operations, it was clear that they lacked the training and resources needed to end the standoff. If our Philippine National Police (PNP) can't even get decent uniforms, what more of its tactics or tools? Though this glaring need was predictable, it is still inexcusable.
How about our broadcast news media airing the entire experience live, at the expense of giving an advantage to the hostage-taker? Rolando D. Mendoza could have easily known what the police were up to and could have been provoked by seeing his brother being taken away by authorities. Though it's true that it may not have mattered, in scenarios such as these, you want to take away any factors that may exacerbate the situation. Let's be frank here, most of our broadcast media have never cared for anything but getting the scoop, damn it all.
And my word, have we become so desensitized to violence to gather around the crime scene getting in the way of paramedics and rescuers, impeding the lives of those who are tenously hanging on? Have we become so inured to sensationalism that we take pictures of ourselves in front of a blood-filled bus? How tragically ironic that we act like tourists where tourists were killed!
How I wish it didn't take an international incident like this to make us question what the hell is happening to us. Our culture of compromise has come back to bite us in the ass. With our governments (local or otherwise) going "Pwede na!" in bolstering our police force, with our newsmen going "Bahala na!" with regards to their journalistic protocols, and with some of our citizens (even policemen!) going "Bongga!" in front of ghastly areas.
Now we are reaping the whirlwind. Hong Kong citizens are calling for our heads, possibly endangering the massive number of Filipino helpers who earn their living there. As of this writing, I have already received tweets calling me and my fellow countrymen "inhuman," which is much kinder than what some others are calling us. I constantly decry how Muslims are being unfairly stereotyped in the US. We will know soon enough what they are going through.
Filipinos love to laugh at the vulgarity of our ills. It's one of the few ways we have left to deal with the injustices we've gone through. And due to our strong Catholic upbringing, we easily forgive and forget. We can blame it all on the Spanish and the Americans for imposing their will on us so strongly and unmercifully. But in the end, we have to accept responsiblity for our actions and inaction. You can't go on Oprah and complain about your parents forever.
As a nation, we haven't reached adulthood yet. It is my sincere hope that we get there sooner than later. But do we really need lessons that costs the lives of families who came to the Philippines to witness our country's beauty, only to be assaulted by its grotesques?
What saddens me most is that none of this would come to our attention if it didn't involve foreigners. It took the world's eye to make us question our identity. As Conrado De Quiros said it best, what kind of people have we become?
