News About Manila Hostage Taking

August 23, 2010, ex-cop and former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza who has been charged by the office of the obudsman guilty of extorting money from chef Christian Kalaw, boarded a bus with 25 Hong Kong tourists and made them hostages in attempt to be reinstated into the police force. The hostage-taker and 8 Hong Kong nationals died during this tragic event.

There has been so much criticism of the Philippine SWAT team and their efforts in neutralizing the situation and saving the hostages. And today, Hong Kong and Chinese officials are said to be  discouraging their residents to travel to the Philippines.

Rolando Mendoza was a high-ranking police officer and was even decorated 17 times for honor and bravery. He was even awarded as one of "Ten Outstanding Policemen of the Philippines" by Jacees International.

It was in 2008 when a certain chef Christian Kalaw accused him and other police officers of extorting money from him, planting methampethamine in his car and forcing him to swallow the drugs. The office of the ombudsman found Rolando Mendoza guilty of this and was relieved from his position and disqualified him from retirement benefits and government service.

Mendoza claimed that the there was no fair trial and that he is innocent from the accusations. This is what made him board that bus that day in hopes that he would be given fair trial and reinstated into his position in the Philippine National Police.

I personally hated his actions and its obvious effects to the tourism and economy of the Philippines. There were so many other things he could have done that did not involved using force in order to find justice for his situation. 

This is an act of evil and is not a racial thing at all. All over the internet criticism of the Philippine government and police force are rising and there have been a lot of racial slurs and comments. We should understand that his kind of thing can happen anywhere. Although it is true that the decisions of the police officials in the scene could have done so much more and they do need a lot more training when it comes to critical situations such as hostage-takings.

All in all, this event is truly saddening. I continue to hope for peace and understanding from the Chinese people and government and also that no such thing ever happens again here and in any other place in the world.