MERGED: Quirino Grandstand Hostage Crisis

[Sarevok]

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kulbaan sad gani ko kadtong ga uwan na kay nabasa ilang mga armas nya basin dili na mo boto ba...

LOL kakatawa sad ta ani da.hehe pero ok ra man bro. naa pay mga maso ilabay na nila

[pepponeskie]

Bitaw bro, ako pud dili pa ko ka-comment kung presidente ba gyud nato ang e-blame, naa tuod siyay means of commanding pero unsaon man pud kung palpak ang execution. Lisud man pud kung moadto pa siya sa scene ug maoy mo-supervise sa negotiation.

mao sad lage bro... gi analyze pa sa akong bosing ang movement sa swat, ka relate cya kay commando mn sad gd cya sa una.

ni dugang pa ug comment akong bosing ug manager nga OA ra daw kaau ang HK nga mo comment dayun nga blacklist ang pinas, kay ang kaso daw kausa ra daw nahitabo unlike sa adto ka sa mindanao nga dapit sa abusayyaf nga lantaran ang kidnapping.

[cebulifer]

katong SWAT na atras-abante... maoy iassign sa mindanao!!!

[cobraKing]

naphak ang helmet sa polis

[cobraKing]

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Police District (MPD) director Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay went on leave yesterday to give way to an impartial investigation of the alleged mishandling of the assault operations during the hostage crisis in Rizal Park that resulted in the death of eight Hong Kong tourists and the hostage taker.
“As they say, the buck stops here,” Magtibay said, taking full responsibility for the operation, during a press conference at the office of Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.
Magtibay stressed that he voluntarily offered to take a leave of absence so that an impartial investigation on what transpired could be conducted.
“I hope it will not be that long, that the fact-finding committee could complete the result of the inquiry as soon as possible,” said Magtibay when asked how long he would go on leave.
Magtibay arrived at City Hall with MPD spokesman Chief Inspector Erwin Margarejo and Superintendent Orlando Yebra, one of the negotiators during the hostage crisis, and clarified that the decision to go on leave did not mean an admission of improper action on his part.
Lim said that there would be no whitewash and no cover up.
Magtibay, the ground commander in the hostage crisis, said he accepted recommendations of his staff on how to deal with the situation. He said that he studied them carefully before making any decision.
Senior Superintendent Francisco Villaroman would be appointed as acting MPD director.
National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leocadio Santiago sacked four officials of the MPD Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) for assault operations that showed the poor training of the police unit.
Santiago said the four SWAT officers – identified as Chief Inspector Santiago Pascual, Senior Police Officer 4 Reynaldo Antonio, SPO3 Alfonso Gaming, and SPO2 Bernardo Espinosa – were relieved because of their hesitation and lapses during the assault on the tourist bus where dismissed police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza held the Chinese tourists hostage.
Mendoza, who was dismissed from the police force last year for extortion, commandeered a Hong Thai Travel tourist bus in Intramuros and held hostage 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipino guides for several hours in front of the Quirino Grandstand at Rizal Park in Manila.
The suspect, armed with an M16 rifle and a pistol, had released several hostages before the SWAT team assaulted the bus, resulting in the death of the hostage taker and eight tourists.
The four SWAT officers would undergo investigation to determine lapses in the assault.
Yebra said Mendoza turned violent due to frustration after failing to get his demand to be reinstated to the police force.
“So he thinks that he was not getting any positive action from the government,” said Yebra.
He also cited the negative reports in the media, which Mendoza was monitoring through the television inside the bus, as another factor that agitated him.
Yebra said that before Mendoza started his shooting rampage, there were reports that he was involved in some sort of illegal activity, which he strongly resented.
Mendoza also saw on TV the arrest of his brother SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza of the Manila Traffic Bureau.
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-National Capital Region, led by Senior Superintendent Pedro Cabatingan Jr., had summoned all the police personnel involved in last Monday’s assault.
Santiago said more heads would roll as the NCRPO continued investigating what went wrong in the controversial hostage-taking incident.
This developed as some sectors have joined the clamor for the relief of PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa, MPD director Magtibay, and NCRPO chief Santiago.
Santiago said he will stay in his post but he assured the public that he would abide by the result and recommendation of the House and Senate and other investigating bodies formed to probe the hostage crisis.
The NCRPO chief said he and his men would submit themselves to any investigating body.
“I am willing to face any investigating body. Besides, I’ve given orders to all officers and men of the NCRPO to appear before the body once properly summoned,” he said.
Santiago admitted that there were several lapses in the hostage incident, but insisted that SWAT members and other policemen deployed risked their lives.
The NCRPO chief insisted that the negotiations for the surrender of the hostage taker were “by the book,” and the SWAT conducted the “hasty assault” after Mendoza opened fire at his captives.

P-Noy defends PNP chief

President Aquino stood by PNP chief Verzosa amid calls for police officials to resign after the mishandling of the hostage crisis.
Mr. Aquino, however, accepted Magtibay’s decision to go on leave while the investigation was ongoing.
In a press conference in Malacañang, the President said he would like to consider the achievements of Verzosa instead of judging him based on what happened on Monday.
He said when he was starting in politics, he learned that a person who would ask 10 things from an official would remember only one of the 10 requests not granted.
“I think Director Verzosa has a lot of achievements under our administration. Look at the extralegal killings, given the necessary support within the first three weeks to include the commission of the crimes, three of the six were solved, right? In spite of the fact that in one of those solved, there was an active non-cooperation tact adopted by the family of the victim,” Mr. Aquino said.
He said there were many other cases attended by Verzosa and which the PNP chief could answer by himself competently.

“With regard to Magtibay, I respect him for taking full responsibility as ground commander for the outcome of this incident. I have directed General Verzosa to accept his offer of leave,” Aquino said.
Aquino said they were drawing up names to be submitted to Mayor Lim who would pick the officer to replace Magtibay.
He said Magtibay’s leave took effect yesterday.
Palace officials said it would be better to wait for the result of the investigation before any officials would be held responsible.
Aquino said he would not prejudge who should be held liable for the incident that resulted in the death of eight Hong Kong tourists.
He ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel to conduct an inquiry to determine what went wrong even as he conceded that there were obvious lapses in the operations due to lack of training and equipment by the police.
PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said Magtibay had admitted that he issued the order to SWAT members to carry out the assault after the bus driver escaped and told the police that the hostages had been killed.
Cruz, however, refused to comment on the call for the resignation of Verzosa and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo on the principle of command responsibility.
When asked how Verzosa was taking criticism on mishandling the crisis, Cruz said “like a professional, our PNP chief is a veteran investigator, he is taking it in stride and giving instructions so that the investigation will go on smoothly and be conducted in a transparent manner as possible.”
Cruz said Verzosa “was just around” during the crisis and did not see the need to go to the crime scene.

Lawmaker urges Cabinet secretaries to quit

The opposition leader at the House of Representatives called for the resignation of three Cabinet members for the government’s “bungling and inept handling” of the hostage crisis.
Minority Leader Edcel Lagman told a news conference that Robredo and Palace Communications Group Secretaries Herminio Coloma and Ricky Carandang should all resign and take responsibility for the fatal blunders in the handing of the hostage crisis.
“Robredo exercises jurisdiction over the Philippine National Police whose ground commanders and SWAT elements bungled the negotiations and rescue operations,” he said.
Lagman said Coloma and Carandang “failed to rein in media practitioners from broadcasting live police rescue operations which allowed the hostage-taker to monitor the coverage on the tourist bus television and anticipate police action.”
President Aquino said Malacañang allowed “experts” to handle the hostage crisis and there is no basis to call for the resignation of Cabinet members.
Aquino said he would not want to prejudge the investigation that would be spearheaded by the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation.
Robredo said he would not resign because the operations were purely a police matter.

[peewee_toot]

in this case, pnoy, as the countrys commander in chief has all the power to shut out MPDs commanding officer and send the best troops we have to handle the situation professionally. it was his call!!! but were was he? was he even watching the news this is an international incident cause it involves tourist. apologizing is a good thing if you gave your best then failed. as of now i'm a lil bit ashamed of being a filipino and for having pnoy as the president.

mao jd. wala jd ko naka kita or naka dungog ni noy2x kadtong on going pa ang hostage drama. after nahitabo na ang tanan, dinha pa ni gawas ang noy2x. ngano kaha?

[mitsu-adv]

[Tirong-say]

mao sad lage bro... gi analyze pa sa akong bosing ang movement sa swat, ka relate cya kay commando mn sad gd cya sa una.

ni dugang pa ug comment akong bosing ug manager nga OA ra daw kaau ang HK nga mo comment dayun nga blacklist ang pinas, kay ang kaso daw kausa ra daw nahitabo unlike sa adto ka sa mindanao nga dapit sa abusayyaf nga lantaran ang kidnapping.

Motuo gyud ko ana kay tanang singaporean required man gyud nga mo-serve sa ilang military. Bitaw unexpected kaayo ang hitabo, abrupt ug decisive,lisud man sad pagkahibalo nga inept diay kaayo atong SWAT when it comes to that situation. Overkill ra ang gibuhat sa HK, bisan restriction to travel lang gud usa, sa ilang response maora na man hinoon ug battle zone ang pinas. Hinoon medyo emotional lang siguro kaayo ilang mga leaders about what happened.

[pepponeskie]

katong SWAT na atras-abante... maoy iassign sa mindanao!!!

ayaw! kay basin naa nay praktisan ug pusil ang mga abusayyaf...mo samot na sila ka hingigo, ehhehehe.

[hulagway]

Wa ba mo kahalata? Hilum man kaayo ang admin sa Metro Manila of Mayor Alfredo Lim...I play troll in some military site and I don't know if this is correct or not but it seems that it seems that cities have their own SWAT units and it is the PNP SAF that trains them (PNP SAF has its own school). Then they then become PNP SWAT recognized by the PNP although the training and equipment cost are paid by the city."

Interesting da...sa cebu city kumusta kaya atong SWAT unit diha? Basig unya paltik na ila mga pusil hehe...

sure ko bro dili na paltik..they have the equipment...