By Joel D Adriano
Asian Time Online
Aug 26, 2010
MANILA - The dramatic end to Monday's Philippine bus hostage crisis, beamed live throughout the world by TV broadcasters, was yet another blow to the country's reputation as one of the most dangerous places for foreigners in Asia. The apparent official mishandling of the incident, where at least five Hong Kong and three Chinese Canadian tourists were killed, also threatens to undermine Philippine relations with China.
Donald Tsang, Hong Kong's chief executive, issued a travel alert directly after advising the autonomous Chinese territory's citizens to avoid all travel to the Philippines. Tsang also voiced his displeasure with President Benigno Aquino's management of the crisis, complaining that Aquino was inaccessible by telephone for several hours as the crisis unfolded.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila ''urged the Philippine side to take concrete measures to ensure the safety and security of the Chinese citizens in the Philippines". Lee Tung Kuok, Hong Kong's under secretary for security, referred to the tragedy as ''unprecedented'' and called for a ''thorough investigation'' into the incident. According to reports, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi telephoned his Philippine counterpart to express Beijing's shock and demand an investigation.
China's Central Propaganda Department subsequently demanded that all media in China should report positively on the evacuation of the victims and survivors of the incident. "There should be no reporting or sensationalist comment which could disturb bilateral relationships with the Philippines," the order said. Instead, journalists are required to report directly from statements issued by China's Foreign Ministry.
The mishandling of the crisis represents the first big blow against Aquino's administration, which until now has enjoyed a honeymoon period lasting two months. Aquino has offered his condolences to the families of the victims and deflected criticism of his presidential office by voicing his frustration with the police's handling and media's blow-by-blow coverage of the crisis. Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim has already expressed his concerns that the tourism industry would suffer significantly from the incident.
The killings have sparked a massive outpouring of grief in Hong Kong, a leading regional destination for overseas Filipino workers. The gunman is believed to have released two Filipino tour operators for the reason they were locals and during the 11-hour siege frequently referred to the hostages as ''Chinese''. Some Filipino families here are now worried that their relatives, many working as domestic helpers, could suffer from an anti-Filipino backlash in Hong Kong.
The crisis began when a recently dismissed senior police officer armed with an M-16 assault rifle and dressed in combat fatigues hijacked a tourist bus in main Manila's tourist district. At least 25 people were initially taken hostage by Rolando Mendoza, including 22 Hong Kong and Canadian Chinese nationals. Mendoza later released nine hostages, including women and children. The Filipino bus driver escaped minutes before the police launched a fatal assault on the bus.
Mendoza was sacked as chief of the capital's mobile police patrol unit after a Manila hotel chef filed a complaint alleging that Mendoza had planted evidence and falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money. Mendoza denied the charges and threatened to harm the Hong Kong hostages unless the charges were dropped and he was restored to his position. The charges and incident underscored the distressing frequency with which Philippine police are involved in, rather than combating, crime.
The bloody end to the crisis raised critical questions over police procedure and competence. The internationally trained special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team was criticized for agitating the gunman by trying to break the windows and doors of the bus using sledgehammers at a time the risk of him harming the hostages was low. Although they had 12 hours to prepare for worst-case scenarios, they appeared bereft of a coherent strategy to end the siege.
A national police spokesperson said four police officers who led the assault to end the hostage crisis had been suspended from duty.
The media's live coverage of the crisis has also come under criticism. The gunman was able to monitor the authorities' movements by watching television and listening to radio from inside the bus. He clearly became agitated upon viewing the arrest of his policeman brother who arrived at the site carrying a firearm. Aquino noted that if the government had ordered a news blackout it would have been accused of censoring the media - though media freedom advocates note that several international television news stations delay live crisis coverage by five to 10 minutes.
Monday's tragedy added to the growing list of attacks against foreigners in the Philippines, including a growing number of assaults against Chinese nationals. [1]
The hostage drama buried the news of another incident in which a Korean missionary was killed and his two companions kidnapped by unidentified armed men in an apparent carjacking shortly after leaving Manila's international airport. The two kidnapped victims, believed to be volunteer workers for the United Nations Children's Fund, were later released unharmed.
With Muslim terrorists active in the country's south, communist insurgents on the loose in many rural areas, unabated kidnappings that often target Sino-Filipinos and Chinese nationals, high crime rates, falling educational standards, sub-standard infrastructure and pervasive corruption, it is difficult to see why foreign investors would risk their capital in the Philippines when other regional countries have considerably much more to offer.
The killing of Chinese tourists and Hong Kong's sharp critique of Aquino's perceived poor handling of the crisis crucially comes at a time China is looking to expand its investments in Southeast Asia. The Philippines was arguably already at a regional disadvantage, considering how frequently Sino-Filipinos and Chinese nationals are targeted by the country's increasingly active kidnapping-for-ransom rings.
Proposed Chinese investments have also been taken hostage by a deeply entrenched culture of corruption. China's ZTE Corp won a US$329 million government contract in 2007 to wire the bureaucracy with broadband access, but the project was scrapped last year under accusations of official overpricing and kickbacks. ZTE and government officials were later absolved of any wrongdoing by the Ombudsman's Office.
Outgoing president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed $1 billion worth of business deals with Chinese investors, including the ZTE project, in April 2007. The contracts made China the biggest foreign investor in the Philippines that year, with various deals spanning mining, energy and infrastructure. With this week's Chinese hostage crisis and Beijing and Hong Kong's stern response, Aquino will be hard-pressed anytime soon to repeat that feat.
Donald Tsang, Hong Kong's chief executive, issued a travel alert directly after advising the autonomous Chinese territory's citizens to avoid all travel to the Philippines. Tsang also voiced his displeasure with President Benigno Aquino's management of the crisis, complaining that Aquino was inaccessible by telephone for several hours as the crisis unfolded.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila ''urged the Philippine side to take concrete measures to ensure the safety and security of the Chinese citizens in the Philippines". Lee Tung Kuok, Hong Kong's under secretary for security, referred to the tragedy as ''unprecedented'' and called for a ''thorough investigation'' into the incident. According to reports, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi telephoned his Philippine counterpart to express Beijing's shock and demand an investigation.
China's Central Propaganda Department subsequently demanded that all media in China should report positively on the evacuation of the victims and survivors of the incident. "There should be no reporting or sensationalist comment which could disturb bilateral relationships with the Philippines," the order said. Instead, journalists are required to report directly from statements issued by China's Foreign Ministry.
The mishandling of the crisis represents the first big blow against Aquino's administration, which until now has enjoyed a honeymoon period lasting two months. Aquino has offered his condolences to the families of the victims and deflected criticism of his presidential office by voicing his frustration with the police's handling and media's blow-by-blow coverage of the crisis. Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim has already expressed his concerns that the tourism industry would suffer significantly from the incident.
The killings have sparked a massive outpouring of grief in Hong Kong, a leading regional destination for overseas Filipino workers. The gunman is believed to have released two Filipino tour operators for the reason they were locals and during the 11-hour siege frequently referred to the hostages as ''Chinese''. Some Filipino families here are now worried that their relatives, many working as domestic helpers, could suffer from an anti-Filipino backlash in Hong Kong.
The crisis began when a recently dismissed senior police officer armed with an M-16 assault rifle and dressed in combat fatigues hijacked a tourist bus in main Manila's tourist district. At least 25 people were initially taken hostage by Rolando Mendoza, including 22 Hong Kong and Canadian Chinese nationals. Mendoza later released nine hostages, including women and children. The Filipino bus driver escaped minutes before the police launched a fatal assault on the bus.
Mendoza was sacked as chief of the capital's mobile police patrol unit after a Manila hotel chef filed a complaint alleging that Mendoza had planted evidence and falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money. Mendoza denied the charges and threatened to harm the Hong Kong hostages unless the charges were dropped and he was restored to his position. The charges and incident underscored the distressing frequency with which Philippine police are involved in, rather than combating, crime.
The bloody end to the crisis raised critical questions over police procedure and competence. The internationally trained special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team was criticized for agitating the gunman by trying to break the windows and doors of the bus using sledgehammers at a time the risk of him harming the hostages was low. Although they had 12 hours to prepare for worst-case scenarios, they appeared bereft of a coherent strategy to end the siege.
A national police spokesperson said four police officers who led the assault to end the hostage crisis had been suspended from duty.
The media's live coverage of the crisis has also come under criticism. The gunman was able to monitor the authorities' movements by watching television and listening to radio from inside the bus. He clearly became agitated upon viewing the arrest of his policeman brother who arrived at the site carrying a firearm. Aquino noted that if the government had ordered a news blackout it would have been accused of censoring the media - though media freedom advocates note that several international television news stations delay live crisis coverage by five to 10 minutes.
Monday's tragedy added to the growing list of attacks against foreigners in the Philippines, including a growing number of assaults against Chinese nationals. [1]
The hostage drama buried the news of another incident in which a Korean missionary was killed and his two companions kidnapped by unidentified armed men in an apparent carjacking shortly after leaving Manila's international airport. The two kidnapped victims, believed to be volunteer workers for the United Nations Children's Fund, were later released unharmed.
With Muslim terrorists active in the country's south, communist insurgents on the loose in many rural areas, unabated kidnappings that often target Sino-Filipinos and Chinese nationals, high crime rates, falling educational standards, sub-standard infrastructure and pervasive corruption, it is difficult to see why foreign investors would risk their capital in the Philippines when other regional countries have considerably much more to offer.
The killing of Chinese tourists and Hong Kong's sharp critique of Aquino's perceived poor handling of the crisis crucially comes at a time China is looking to expand its investments in Southeast Asia. The Philippines was arguably already at a regional disadvantage, considering how frequently Sino-Filipinos and Chinese nationals are targeted by the country's increasingly active kidnapping-for-ransom rings.
Proposed Chinese investments have also been taken hostage by a deeply entrenched culture of corruption. China's ZTE Corp won a US$329 million government contract in 2007 to wire the bureaucracy with broadband access, but the project was scrapped last year under accusations of official overpricing and kickbacks. ZTE and government officials were later absolved of any wrongdoing by the Ombudsman's Office.
Outgoing president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed $1 billion worth of business deals with Chinese investors, including the ZTE project, in April 2007. The contracts made China the biggest foreign investor in the Philippines that year, with various deals spanning mining, energy and infrastructure. With this week's Chinese hostage crisis and Beijing and Hong Kong's stern response, Aquino will be hard-pressed anytime soon to repeat that feat.
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