Hostage Crisis Handling can be easily addressed by proper staffing, better planning and training and the procurement of better equipment. The bigger Philippine tragedy which is more difficult to address is our damaged culture. We are our country’s greatest enemies, especially those who have a major influence on how we acquire information and shape our opinions.

I don’t know about you but I think Esposo is not the best person to lecture us about our damaged culture nor is he in any position to tell us who our greatest enemies are.

For one thing, Esposo himself is part of mainstream media and as such actually holds some influence on how people shape their opinions. Esposo himself thinks highly of his own genius when it comes to mass media and communications. Here are some of his career highlights, which he probably wrote himself on his website.

Billy devised the vital unconventional media plan that offset the Marcos regime’s media monopoly. The presidential snap election of 1986 which culminated in the great people power revolt was mostly credited as a media effort. And the whole world followed the events through the media.

In 1987, Esposo spearheaded the media campaign for the ratification of the new Philippine constitution. He also directed the publicity effort for the new party, Lakas ng Bansa, which evolved into the LDP – President Aquino’s main party. And he also advised the media campaign for the administration’s Senatorial lineup which eventually won 22 of 24 seats in the 1987 elections.

Truly a legend in his own mind.

I normally don’t resort to shooting the messenger, but Esposo is just begging for it. In case you forgot, just like the once highly respected Conrado de Quiros, Esposo had no qualms about using his position as a columnist to condition the minds of the public that Noynoy Aquino is this country’s best hope. He deliberately used propaganda to trick the gullible into voting for Noynoy and he succeeded in turning some people into yellow zombies precisely because he knew enough how to exploit the Filipino’s “damaged culture.”

I wonder if Esposo was actually referring to himself when he wrote:

We are our country’s greatest enemies, especially those who have a major influence on how we acquire information and shape our opinions.

Now, just to be fair, let’s check if there’s some sense in Esposo’s latest rant.

To summarize what he wrote, Esposo is basically complaining about those who continue to criticize the government’s dismal handling of the hostage taking incident at the Quirino Grandstand and the subsequent backlash. He is obviously disappointed with those who appear to be pandering to the indignation of Hong Kong’s government and people. He points out:

The fact is our government and people have more than undertaken enough to express our collective regret and apology over the hostage tragedy. The fact is President Noynoy Aquino (P-Noy) has more than bent over backwards to try to ease the pain of the Chinese people, including those in Hong Kong where most of the fatalities came from. The fact is that there is a multi-agency probe underway and there is no attempt to cover up for anybody.

For some reason, this paragraph from Esposo reminds me of a statement made by Senator Tito Sotto:

“It’s sad, there’s this Filipino practice of self flagellation. I don’t think we should overblame ourselves for what has happened,”

Esposo also seems to encourage that other despicable trait of many Filipinos to hit back with equal if not greater vitriol when criticized even if the reason for the criticism is completely valid. That’s the impression one gets with this bit of praise in his column:

Frankly, many Filipinos have been more circumspect about this hostage tragedy than Philippine media. On Facebook and the blogs, you’ll see many Filipinos who have taken China and the Hong Kong local government to task for their arrogance and overbearing attitude towards us and our government.

Like Eat Bulaga’s Tito Sen, Esposo basically wants us to stop criticizing ourselves. I suppose Esposo and everyone else who thinks like him subscribe to the odd notion that if one is Filipino he should not be overly critical of Filipinos because to do so “simply borders on treason.”

It escapes Esposo that the bigger “crime” that borders on treason is the deliberate effort to make people stupid.

I hope Esposo hasn’t forgotten that he was partly responsible for the Aquino nightmare this country will have to endure for the next couple of years. For that alone, I think, Esposo should consider a shift from writing columns to repairing wrecked chairs.

Official death toll is 9 including the hostage taker dismissed police officer Rolando Mendoza.

What went wrong?

A lot of things. There’s Mendoza, who was undoubtedly already out of his mind the minute he decided to take innocent civilians hostage. Yes, Mendoza was crazy.

Then there’s the police. Its handling of the whole situation was a showcase of incompetence and stupidity.

Tell me if I’m wrong but there were several opportunities where the police could have incapacitated Mendoza. Just take a look at this picture from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Clear shot? Suspect all boxed in?

(photo from Inquirer.net)

Did that not give the PNP’s sharpshooters a clear shot at Mendoza?

But of course the police would say deadly force was their last resort. Well, I’m not talking about killing him right there and then although a bullet to Mendoza’s head would have instantly put an end to the crisis. I’m talking about shooting him in the legs or the knees just to incapacitate him. The fact that the shooter who eventually killed him was able to do so with a shot to the head convinces me that they could have easily done it.

Didn’t police also have other opportunities to just pull Mendoza out of the bus? How about incapacitating him with a taser?

Taser, taser, taser!

According to some reports, the responding police officers were actually hesitant to use any level of force against a former colleague. If this was true then the PNP really has a big problem. A crime was taking place right before their eyes and police were thinking about  being “brothers in the service”. So is that how it goes? Porke’t kabaro naiilang kayong kumilos?

Other reports say those in command saw it fit to just let the negotiations continue because Mendoza was cooperating anyway. Sure. Negotiate all you want but when the opportunity to end the situation at once presents itself take it.

This brings me to the point I really want to make. It boggles me that the police considered negotiating with a crazy person and even allowed it to extend that long.

Incidentally, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo was quoted as saying in an interview before the whole situation escalated that the police was doing its job well. Robredo also said that it didn’t matter if the situation drags on for one or even two days as long the safety of the hostages was ensured.

Well, Mr. Secretary, see how that turned out — 8 hostages, 1 hostage taker killed.

I think the police failed to realize that they were dealing with someone who had lost his mind. Yes, Mendoza was crazy. How else can we describe someone who thought he could get himself reinstated to the police force by committing a crime?

And what about the media?

It was obvious the media was being its pesky self as usual. The media was there doing its job albeit somewhat mindlessly and apparently with no regard at all to the fact that lives were at stake. And while I would have preferred that the media acted a little differently, I would still blame the whole thing on the PNP. It was after all the authority overseeing the whole situation.

The PNP clearly still has a lot of things to learn.

The PNP leadership may turn a blind eye but it can never deny that some police personnel routinely engage in such acts.

One time I chanced upon a police mobile car with a young boy seated inside. Apparently he was picked up for vagrancy. As I walked by I overheard one of the police officers verbally abusing the boy. The policeman wasn’t cursing at him but what he said sounded really ominous and I can only imagine more so to someone as young as that kid. The policeman said:

“Baka gusto mo tuluyan na kita.”

The policeman probably didn’t mean it. Maybe he was just trying to scare the kid. But still, that was no way for anyone to discipline a child.

Of course, the video we’ve been seeing this past few days is far more troubling.

To be honest, watching it made me angry. It made me wish the same or something worse would happen to that torturer. I even thought that if I were to do the honors of giving him hell, I’d also have a string attached to his genitals and with the other end of the string attached to a car I will have him dragged along a road littered with shattered glass and salt.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who had such evil thoughts.

Now that’s the thing. Why is it that our reactions to torture videos depend on context? Just imagine if it were Saddam Hussein, whose regime resulted in the torturing and killing of many innocent people, who was shown being tortured. How about Adolf Hitler? How about Sr. Insp. Joselito Binayug who has been tagged as the abuser in that torture video?

I posed these questions to a friend and he said there’s a big difference between thinking of doing something and actually doing it. He is of course correct. Still, I wonder. Would it take much to drive a person to actually do unspeakable things to another human being?

I wonder if Binayug was thinking along the same line as he was being interviewed by some reporters.

(excerpt from www.asiaone.com)

He briefly mentioned that one of his children had been held up near a precinct and told reporters that if they had children, they would know how it felt.

What I find more troubling about this whole issue is the fact that the PNP has failed to ensure that no policeman would ever carry out inhumane acts such as this. I dare say that up to this point everyone who has held a position of authority within the police organization simply lacked the balls and brains to formulate and implement measures that would put a stop to all forms of police abuses.

A witness who spoke anonymously on TV said that while many policemen object to the use of torture they feel they cannot do anything if the one doing it is a superior. While I think that is such a cop-out I can also understand how that would be a real problem. No one likes to jeopardize their career by telling on a superior.

That to me is a clue that points to a possible countermeasure. The PNP leadership should bring down all barriers preventing lower ranking personnel from reporting abuses committed by their superiors. It should also provide significant rewards to whistleblowers whose exposes are proven to be true. Spot promotions would probably sound appealing.

I’m not saying though that this is the ultimate solution. I still believe ensuring a humane and professional police force can be done by simply strengthening the screening and recruitment process. As it is, I think the PNP is doing a poor job at screening out undesirables. These of course include sociopaths and psychopaths as well as those with a history of boorishness and thuggery. I don’t mean to be discriminatory but I’m also convinced that people with impoverished backgrounds should be rejected from the police force outright. It’s simple. Why should people who are primarily motivated by a desperate need to make money fast be allowed to carry a gun and hide behind the shield of the law?

The PNP leadership probably won’t have the time to give these suggestions any thought right now. It needs to focus on managing the publicity nightmare brought on by this torture video. On this, I have one last suggestion for the PNP. Don’t approach the issue from a public relations standpoint. Instead, do the best you can do to actually get those involved in the atrocity and ensure their imprisonment by building a strong case against them.

In short, just do what you’re supposed to do.

Well, whether or not that little inspection of his was just another media gimmick, I’ll give him credit for at least putting back the rehabilitation of Pasig River in the news.

According to the report over at GMAnews.TV, President Aquino already met with the Pasig River Rehabilitation Council — or is that Commission? — and was briefed on the river’s present status and what else needs to be done to bring it back to life.

I’m not sure if I misheard him, but I think President Aquino said something about reviving the river within his term is possible, based on the information given to him. Wow! I hope he got correct information to come out with such a pronouncement. It would really disappoint a lot of people including myself if this statement of his turns out to be just like those sweeping promises he made during the campaign season.

I guess the best thing that the president should do now that he has raised the expectations of those who want to see Pasig River in all its former glory is to provide some specifics in the coming days.

A few questions come to mind:

• Does the rehabilitation plan include the relocation of informal settlers living along the river?
• How about the factories and other industrial facilities operating and possibly dumping all sorts of waste materials into the river?
• Will they also be removed as proposed by some people?
• How exactly will the cleanup be done?
• What technologies will be used?
• How much will be spent?
• Who will shoulder the cost?

The last two questions are of course very important. Considering its money problems, the government may not have enough resources for this. But then again it’s President Aquino we’re talking about here. The Great Yellow Hope as described by some.

Consumer Karma of Philippine Consumer Reports thinks President Aquino has what it takes to gather private sector support for such a project.

We fully believe that if President Aquino is serious about cleaning up Pasig River, it will happen.  He has the backing of a lot of people and I think all city governments — as well as corporations and private sector groups — will pull all stops to help him.

I hope this blogger’s assessment is correct.

I heard in the news that the yellow horde will be unveiling a giant photo-mosaic of Missus Aquino (I would have liked to refer to the former president as Tita Cory, but the yellow camp’s annoying overuse of this appellation compels me to do otherwise). According to reports, the organizers of this distasteful gimmick plan to use the event to secure yet another Guinness World Record.

But why? Why? Why? Is that all this country is going to be good at — chasing after useless world records? I hope you get one for the “World’s Biggest Ploy To Keep People Emotional and Stupid”.

Now, I’m also wondering why the yellow horde would even pursue this thing at a cost of P2 Million. Isn’t the president trying to set an example of austerity? Reports say the cost is being shouldered by private sponsors. Even so, this is a wasteful undertaking. Those private sponsors should have just used the money they spent on this thing on something more productive and beneficial.

As I was enjoying my chocolate milkshake, three of those yellow ladies decided to take the action inside. Major anNOYance! One of them decided to chat me up. I tried to be polite, but, God, did she make it difficult. This lady wanted to give me one of their stickers, which had some slogan about pagbabago. I politely refused. It was then that this lady said to me, “Are you not interested in seeing the country change for the better?”

Huwaaaatttt?!? And yes, she said it in English because she was a bit Coño.

This lady who is probably a charming lola when she’s not annoying the hell out of strangers really got my blood boiling. Had I not been able to bite my tongue, I would have probably pointed out to her that there’s no way their Cory stickers would bring about change and that she better just get out of my face.

This is the sort of thing that makes the yellow camp a prime target for criticisms. Instead of just focusing on REAL work, all it ever does is come up with all sorts of showbiz gimmicks. Is this all we’re gonna get in the next six years? Useless events meant to appeal to the emotions?

I hope all Filipinos will wake up and see exactly what the yellow camp is doing. I won’t even blame this thing on Noynoy anymore. I’m convinced this is solely the handiwork of several of his advisers who fancy themselves as media and marketing geniuses, which they probably are. I’m 100% sure though they are not as patriotic as they want others to believe. They’re just protecting their real agenda the best way they can and that is through smoke and mirrors.

Just consider this truly pathetic attempt at getting people all sentimental again over Missus Aquino’s death. The following quote was lifted from Facebook.

“”We Remember, We Celebrate, We Believe!” Thank you very much Auntie Cory!”

Hey emo-dude she’s dead. Saying a quiet prayer in her behalf should be enough. Ginagamit n’yo pang marketing tool ang dating pangulo. Mahiya hiya nga kayo!

And to that lola who made me lose interest in my chocolate milkshake: Don’t talk to anyone about change because you suck!

Apparently, the offended mediamen took it as a form of shabby treatment. Oo nga. Ang shabby naman Mr. Secretary. What’s up with that anyway? Are you not aware Mr. Secretary, that you can’t be pissing off members of the media unless you’re prepared to be demonized? You should strive to seem subservient to them. Never mind that sometimes they can really be annoying. Never mind too that half if not most of the time they are actually doing more harm to this country than good.

But, let’s see if Luistro had good reason to say such a foul thing.

According to this report from manilatimes.net, Luistro made that “offending” statement in response to an inquiry on what he thought about former Education Secretary Mona Valisno’s plan to include sex education in the curriculum for elementary and high school students.

Another report from abs-cbnnews.com provides better context. It says Luistro was blaming the media for adding “fuel to the fire between the government and the Catholic Church regarding the sex education program.”

Yun naman pala eh.

Come to think of it, there really is something wrong when an issue as big as sex education is treated as a sabong (cockfight) between one party (the government) and another (the Catholic Church). The problem with the local media is that most of the time all it ever does is pit opposing sides against one another. Instead of  providing the general public with truly useful information, some members of the media just engage in sabong commentary, which does nothing for the betterment of the Filipino as it simply enhances whatever useless noise there is.

Hindi nakakatulong ang media

The Secretary’s statement speaks some truth about media’s shortcomings. Just consider the quality of its coverage of the last campaign season. I don’t know about you but I find the media’s output during that period largely disappointing. Consider the following:

1. most reports, focused on personalities and their showbiz-like activities instead of their platforms
2. the few reports on supposed platforms failed to differentiate between a real platform and a standard-issue list of motherhood statements
3. reports on survey results were sorely lacking in serious analysis; obviously media simply accepted and regurgitated whatever was fed to it
4. so-called election fora organized by media companies provided no deeper insight into the candidates’ plans since so-called highly respected and seasoned journalists focused more on asking trivial and oftentimes idiotic questions

Thanks to these media shortcomings, the campaign and election season ended with the Filipino still none the wiser. In short, hindi talaga nakatulong ang media.

Don’t do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you

Lest I be accused of taking Luistro’s side here, I will say that the secretary also erred in dismissing a valid question. As a friend of mine pointed out:

Education more than almost any other government function apart from maybe health care demands a high level of community engagement. Essentially telling media people to eff off is not demonstrating an understanding of that.

But more than that, it’s interesting to note that, as a member of the Black and White Movement, Brother Armin Luistro himself is not a stranger to panggugulo. Their target of course was  the administration of then President Gloria Arroyo. I believe at that time not a few level-headed people who saw at least some good in what the Arroyo Administration was doing saw the Black and White Movement as a major nuisance.

So to be fair to both Luistro and those mediamen he pissed off I’ll just say this:

Tigil-tigilan nyo nga yang drama n’yo at ayusin nyo na lang ang mga trabaho n’yo. Tama na ang drama.

I had wanted it to be as comprehensive as possible but after much thought I realized a shorter and generic list would be enough.

So here goes. A list of things I would like the President-Elect to do immediately.

1. Stop making excuses.
2. Stop talking about your parents.
3. Start talking about your vision.
4. Start talking about your concrete plans.
5. Order your media handlers to stop feeding the Filipino people with showbiz crap.
6. Tell your sister Kris to stop talking, period.
7. Don’t appoint people based on their closeness to you. It’s distasteful especially when all they have going for them is their showbiz roots.

As simple as these are, I am confident these recommendations can help the President-Elect become more “presidential” and less “showbiz.”

Related to this, a commenter on my previous post “Aquino Wants Us To Lower Our Expectations” wrote:

Can we just let him be president first, and reserve the criticisms for later?

I think this is a sensible recommendation. However, I will follow it if and only if the President-Elect will start showing us that he is in charge of his camp and that he will no longer allow “showbiz” tactics and gimmicks to dictate his decisions and actions.

It’s time for REAL change. Are you up to it Mr. President-Elect?

Well, according to him he is not. Now I wonder why he and his mouthpieces are making a big point out of this only now.

As I recall, during the campaign period, Aquino and his Yellow horde were all promoting him as this country’s best hope. Remember his pompous slogan “”Kung Walang Corrupt Walang Mahirap”? It can’t be denied that mentally weak voters fell for it, which is exactly why the senator won the election.

Well, Mr. President-Elect you made the claim. Make sure you fulfill your promise. You wouldn’t want to disappoint those who pinned their hopes on you by becoming just another traditional politician who breaks his campaign promises.

I am very sure though you will not succeed in solving poverty and corruption. As PinoyBuzz pointed out in his newly-revived blog, these are all “biblical” problems.

Going back to his I-am-not-Superman-or-Einstein spiel, I suppose with the presidency now in the bag, the President-Elect and his advisers feel that now is the perfect time to clarify that the Yellow One is not The One. As the following report www.malaya.com shows, Aquino is now calling on the public to set reasonable expectations.

PRESIDENT-ELECT Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino hopes that the Filipino people will have “reasonable” expectations of him as the 15th President of the Republic, saying he is humble enough to admit that he does not have all the answers to the problems besetting the country.

Despite the hardships he would face, Aquino vowed to bring more food to the table and reform the “poor” educational system.

“Kung reasonable expectation di ko nakita bakit di natin magagawa,” he said.

“Mas maraming pagkain ang itatanim natin, ang kakainin, palalakihin,” he said. “Lahat ng bagay sa reporma, education system, sa dagdag na two to three years mako-complete yan.”

“Sana reasonable (ang expectations) but I’m sure there are a lot of people thinking there has to be a night and day difference,” he said in an interview at his residence on Times St., Bgy. West Triangle, in Quezon City Monday night.

Are you serious Mr. Aquino? You want us to lower our expectations? Ok, how low is low anyway? I’m sure your fans would like to know and many of them would gladly give in to your request… huwag ka lang mapahiya.

Well, just to be clear, I am not at all inclined to cut you some slack. I will keep score. I expect that will not be too difficult to do after all you never did give us much in terms of plans and platforms just that mumbo jumbo about “Kung Walang Corrupt Walang Mahirap.” I’m sure keeping track of that one thing should be easy.

By the way, I think fulfilling that one promise should also be manageable for you. But, of course, you’re just human and it is possible you’d have some episodes of self-doubt. Should that happen may I suggest that you re-visit your campaign advertisements and be reminded of the conviction you displayed there. Of course, I’m assuming that was real conviction not some showbiz posturing.

I used to be involved in MLM. In fact I once took a one year break from my day job to concentrate on network marketing. I never really earned that much from it though. Nevertheless I found the whole experience quite enjoyable and educational.

So what did I learn? Quite a lot actually. But the most important is the idea that MLM is a legitimate business model that presents a very real opportunity for people to achieve financial freedom or to earn some extra cash.

I know that sounded a little too chirpy and somewhat corny like an overused motherhood statement. But seriously, as a business system, MLM shouldn’t be dismissed as easily as its evil twin, the pyramid scam.

To the newbie or casual observer it would appear that the two are one and the same. As a former networker who had the fortunate/unfortunate experience of attending more than enough business presentations by various companies including dubious ones, I am quite familiar with the inner workings of both systems and I can attest to the fact that MLM is a legitimate and ethical system while pyramiding is simply bad.

It’s really quite easy to make the mistake of assuming that they’re the same system. For one thing, networks formed under both systems take on the form of a triangle or pyramid with the one who enrolled first positioned on top and followed by a number of other people referred to us downlines who are also followed by other downlines below them.

I’d like to point out that this pyramid or triangle structure is not the dead giveaway of “scamminess” as many well-meaning but uninformed pundits think. There is nothing inherently wrong with the form. It is not even unique to MLM or pyramiding schemes.

The fact is the pyramid form is found in every imaginable organization. It’s how corporate organizations look like. Even the government follows this structure with the Head of State at the very top followed by other top level officials who are then followed by lower-ranked officials and so on and so forth. It can’t be stressed enough that there is nothing inherently wrong with the pyramid organizational structure.

What’s wrong with pyramid schemes anyway? The standard complaint is that, like the Ponzi scheme, pyramiding involves an unfair movement of money that puts members at the very bottom at a disadvantage. Moreso when there are no real products involved as this would leave those at the bottom with nothing to show for their investment. To illustrate, member A receives money from member B who then receives money from member C who is then left holding the empty bag unless someone else gets in to continue the cycle.

Unfortunately, in legitimate MLM, money moves in a similar fashion. The only difference is that there are products involved.

But then again most present-day pyramid scams also feature products.

(More to come in part two.)

I don’t know about everyone else, but as far as I’m concerned it ain’t over till it’s over. And, no Mr./Ms. Commenter, Noynoy’s victory is not yet a certainty. It is just one of many possibilities.

Speaking of the Aquino campaign, I’m really wondering what his supporters expect from him in case he does bcome our President. As far those people in his inner circle, well, that should be obvious. They’re in it for the juicy government portfolios and other perks. How about the ordinary folks who profess to love him like he was some kind of messiah? It seems to me they’re in it for the fantasy. A better Philippines under an Aquino administration? That makes the Lord of the Rings more real to me.

incidentally, I was at one of the BIR offices last week and I got to talk to one of the examiners there. Out of the blue he mentioned that he and most of his co-workers are for Aquino. I asked why. He gave me a cryptic response.

“Basta,” he said.

I wondered about that piece of information. I tried to imagine what possible reason a BIR examiner could possibly have to support Noynoy who has been playing the role of an anti-corruption crusader. Hmmm. BIR personnel supporting a candidate who claims he will put a stop to government corruption… it just doesn’t match up. Is the end of the world upon us?

I reflected on his cryptic response. After about 10 seconds of deep thought, it came to me. I realized what should have been obvious to me from the very start.

Those BIR personnel aren’t supporting Noynoy because of what he claim he can and will do to ensure corruption-free governance. They’re going for Noynoy because they know he will not be able to do anything to stop the shenanigans going on at this esteemed government agency. In short, they’re putting their faith on Noynoy’s incompetence.

I don’t know about you but I think this is a sign of things to come should the greater number of Filipino voters think it wise to put Noynoy at the helm of our already troubled nation.