Random Thoughts : QUIRINO GRANDSTAND HOSTAGE TAKING

I think I will not post a reaction on the events that transpired yesterday in Manila.  Many have already shared their thoughts, hind-sights, lessons, and criticisms.


I am saddened by the fact that a decorated police officer was pushed to the edge.  As our President mentioned, I also think Mendoza was not bent on killing the hostages or getting himself killed in the process. 

So who was this hostage taker - who really was former Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza?  Reading from various articles on the internet, according to them - Senior inspector Rolando Del Rosario Mendoza was a decorated police officer. He was born on January 10, 1955 in Naic, Cavite.  Administrative charges were filed against him and three other officers, then dismissed for extortion and for forcing a chef to swallow Shabu. On October 17, 2008, the PNP Internal Affairs Service recommended the case be dismissed after Kalaw failed to appear in the proceedings. In August of the same year, the manila prosecutors Office Eight Division dismissed the case after Kalaw failed to appear during the preliminary proceedings. But the reassignment never happened due to his 90-day suspension.
His demands were simple.  He did not want money.  He just wanted his job back.  But what could have pushed him to hold hostage a bus full of tourists.  Were there no other ways for him to make his voice heard?  Was there no other channel in which he could petition his plea?   Why was he so desperate?

If the hostage ended differently would Mendoza get what he wanted? He was no ordinary "criminal".  That was for sure. He was a police officer for 23 years. The aftermath of this event is tragic.  I cannot judge Mendoza.  We will never the reasons why he was pushed to do what he has done.  He will never be reinstated.  

Pointing fingers does not and will not solve anything. The events that have led to the hostage taking will only be speculation,  or intelligent assumptions at best.  What's done is done.

We must move forward from this.  Accumulate all the lessons that we have learned.  Apologize to the international community, most especially our neighbors in Hong Kong. 

I think that we are being tested at a time of renewal and change.  No one ever said that it was going to be easy.