8 HK tourists killed in Phillipine

[pandamao]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100823...hijackhongkong




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Please watch some of the live action of how the Flips incompetently attempt to rescue to hijacked tourists. This has caused quite an uproar in Hong Kong, mainly criticizing the lack of training from their SWAT team. Netizens renamed SWAT to, "Sorry We Are not Trained."

[wkeej]

Has been following the news. Wondering if:
1. What' if the hostages are Filipinos?
2. Have they forgotten that the man is carrying an M16, not a pistol?
3. Will the comments be totally different if the outcome is totally differnt - no hostage died and the gunman was killed?

From the news, I hear different demands from the gunman:
1. investigation into his case. Actually, what so difficult about this demand?
2. reinstate his job. Perhaps, it is more difficult.

Or, the gunman demanded both?

[Ken Cheng]

Has been following the news. Wondering if:
1. What' if the hostages are Filipinos?

Same result, most likely. I don't think those Filipino cops didn't want to save those hostages; they just weren't properly trained or equipped to get the job done right.

[Guo Xiang]

Same result, most likely. I don't think those Filipino cops didn't want to save those hostages; they just weren't properly trained or equipped to get the job done right.

I agree.

From the news, I hear different demands from the gunman:
1. investigation into his case. Actually, what so difficult about this demand?
2. reinstate his job. Perhaps, it is more difficult.

May have been politics at play.

[forgot password]

philippine's swat/police sucks. what the hell, that dude who was tryin to break the bus door with a hammer was so scared that he even unintentionally let the hammer fall into the bus after the very 1st hit, to be honest i couldnt help bursting into a laugh watching that part. there were 2 other dudes who continously failed to throw a flash bomb through the bus' broken window. and why the heck did they not send some snipers to kill the kidnapper earlier as there were various times when his vital body parts like head, heart,... were fully exposed.

[Ren Wo Xing]

To my understanding, in the Phillippines, SWAT stands for: "Sorry, We Aren't Trained".

[pandamao]

This is quite sad.

I don't blame the SWAT team though. Given their government never really provided any type of formalized training and those men still made an attempt to save them, that's some courage.

If I were them, I'll probably react the same way.

Hopefully after this incident, the government will know what to do in the future.

[ROI]

Some background on the hostage taker's case

http://jimayson.wordpress.com/2008/0...-viral-e-mail/

[ByTmE]

What's really outrageous are the circulating pictures of school girls and uniformed officers cheesing and posing for pictures with the tourist vehicle in the after math. What could really compel people to behave in such a way?

I can understand the outrage of the HKers at such treatment. Before seeing the pictures, I thought a lot of them were possibly overly sensitive from living in a more privileged country. In a country like the Philippines, I'm guessing that it's well accepted that the law enforcement officials are incompetent at best/abusive at worst. That was my fault. However, after seeing the blatant disregard and insensitivity for the victims by the citizens of the nation...well it was just appalling.

I believe now there are conspiracy theories flying around about the bus driver's association with the perpetrator, reasons why negotiation was overlooked in favor of attack, and the Ph's governments failure to address the issue with better efficacy. ::shrugs::

I'd rather we focus on the victims and support them in this time of suffering.

[Ken Cheng]

What happened with those police officers is just a symptom of a much bigger problem in the Philippine government at all levels from bottom to top. The long decades of U.S. rule and subsequent Marcos dictatorship hasn't exactly helped the Philippines engender the most civic of societies (which is often a byproduct of economic wealth). This is not just a Philippine problem, but one that faces most Southeast Asian nations with the exception of Singapore.

[Dirt]

I call foul on the racial slur.

[remember_Cedric]

I read in the local newspaper in this morning.... following this incident....

1) a boy age 11 and his older sister age 14 still have no knowledge that their parents are among the dead tourists.

2) the Chief inspector (or a certain high ranking officer) who had to answer to the media, people and the world for their major boo-boo, was caught giggling abit because he was so excited to be given such high profile exposure.

3) a group of phil students taking group photo intentionally wanted The Bus as their backdrop. Some showed gang signs, some smile and all of them seems jovial.

4) The SWEAT Team http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/...=1431470061013

5) to be updated......

Conclusion: 2 & 3 - Hopeless morons!

[pandamao]

every country has its idiots. i would refrain from using some of the extreme negative publicity as a representation of their country.

as for the officier with the chuckle ... power corrupts. @*)#&@*)# needs a slap.

[LuNaR]

from what i hear, the SWAT team killed a few tourist when they were exchanging fire w/ the gunman

[remember_Cedric]

from what i hear, the SWAT team killed a few tourist when they were exchanging fire w/ the gunman

That's my understanding from reading the local newspaper too.

[Guo Xiang]

What the media in the Philippines, Hong Kong and China are saying:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11084273

[pandamao]

What the media in the Philippines, Hong Kong and China are saying:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11084273

Thanks for a great article Guo Xiang.

"Should the media have been allowed to cover the incident the way they did? It was obvious that the cameramen and the reporters were getting in the way of police operations. The only good thing about that TV coverage is that it will serve as a manual on how not to handle a hostage crisis."

This is pretty sad. I do wonder whether other countries make the same stupid mistakes as well. Can we guarantee all SWAT forces are competent and well-trained?

"Forget tourism in the country - not after the Philippines has earned a big black eye, not only in Hong Kong but in the world, after the bungling by police authorities of the hostage situation that left eight persons dead. Maybe government can also forget foreign investments, with the perception strengthened that Manila is a most dangerous place, not just for tourists and expats, but also for business."

Lol - I think this is a bit excessive. I don't agree with this at all. Americans are still doing business in Iraq. Money motivates all.

[Ken Cheng]

Thanks for a great article Guo Xiang.

"Should the media have been allowed to cover the incident the way they did? It was obvious that the cameramen and the reporters were getting in the way of police operations. The only good thing about that TV coverage is that it will serve as a manual on how not to handle a hostage crisis."

This is pretty sad. I do wonder whether other countries make the same stupid mistakes as well. Can we guarantee all SWAT forces are competent and well-trained?

"Forget tourism in the country - not after the Philippines has earned a big black eye, not only in Hong Kong but in the world, after the bungling by police authorities of the hostage situation that left eight persons dead. Maybe government can also forget foreign investments, with the perception strengthened that Manila is a most dangerous place, not just for tourists and expats, but also for business."

Lol - I think this is a bit excessive. I don't agree with this at all. Americans are still doing business in Iraq. Money motivates all.

Other kinds of business with the Philippines will probably go on, but tourism is shot for at least several years. Unless the Philippines can win back the trust of the world in its police forces, the tourists will likely stay away.

[remember_Cedric]

Thanks for a great article Guo Xiang.

"Should the media have been allowed to cover the incident the way they did? It was obvious that the cameramen and the reporters were getting in the way of police operations. The only good thing about that TV coverage is that it will serve as a manual on how not to handle a hostage crisis."

This is pretty sad. I do wonder whether other countries make the same stupid mistakes as well. Can we guarantee all SWAT forces are competent and well-trained?

Can we name any country, within our best of knowledge, who has a SWAT team as incompetent as Philiy's?

I'm sure it's not difficult to find videos on SWAT team disarming terrorist prototype.

A few days ago, I just saw this video circulating in FB, about this gutsy police woman take down a guy who held a girl as his hostage. He had a gun too.

Actually, what I can't stand most is, how the Philiy exposed the coffin with the deceased in there, to the media. I mean, do those people know anything about respect for the dead? <-- This is for them.

"Forget tourism in the country - not after the Philippines has earned a big black eye, not only in Hong Kong but in the world, after the bungling by police authorities of the hostage situation that left eight persons dead. Maybe government can also forget foreign investments, with the perception strengthened that Manila is a most dangerous place, not just for tourists and expats, but also for business."

Lol - I think this is a bit excessive. I don't agree with this at all. Americans are still doing business in Iraq. Money motivates all.

Actually, did HK had any personal vendetta with Philiy?

[Guo Xiang]

Actually, what I can't stand most is, how the Philiy exposed the coffin with the deceased in there, to the media.

Of all the things, I find that very stunning too.

But then again, I'm not that surprised, because from what I know, the media industry in the Philippines is a highly sensationalised type that runs extremely high on adrenaline. The Maguindanao Massacre had photos of the dead released too. It makes you wonder why they allow such practices.