Aquino government needs training in crisis management
The mishandling of the hostage situation crisis irked leaders of The House of Representatives saying apologies were not enough if the responsible officials are spared.
House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman said the three Cabinet officials namely Interior secretary Jesse Robredo and secretaries Ricky Carandang and Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Group – said the three should all resign for their incompetence in handling the hostage crisis on Monday. He said, Robredo who failed to take full control of the situatin and did not immediately respond to the scene of the crisis, which lasted 11 hours.
“Both Carandang and Coloma failed to enforce the protocol on the media which covered live the crisis situation. In fact, Carandang even defended media’s improvident live coverage," Lagman said.
House Deputy Speaker Jesus Cripin Remulla said the government failed to manage media coverage of the incident. The government should have been able to talk to the media on how to cover the crisis accordingly, showing the Poynter’s Institute rule book on crisis coverages. “Maybe they were watching too much TV and they didn’t realize that if they could see it on TV, the gunman could see it on TV,” he said.
Bacolod City Rep. Anthony Golez pointed out the lack of crisis management internationally on the part of the government; and not due to the media coverage. “I don’t blame the media. I should blame the incident commander for not controlling the situation,” he said.
Manila Police District (MPD) Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay assured he will face his responsibilities over the crisis. He offered verbally his intention to (on leave), National Police Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said.
The PNP has formed a Critical Incident Management Committee to handle the investigation. This committee comprised members of the PNP directorates for investigation and detective management, intelligence, police community relations, and operations.
Cruz also said the PNP had discussed media relations and ground control, but has not come up with a final decision on the matter. The Special Weapons Assault and Tactics team that took part in Monday’s incident will have to submit the firearms they used for ballistics tests.
Meanwhile, Secreary General Surin Pitsuwan of Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) said Southeast Asian nations have more room for more cooperation and exchange of best practices or training, says “Management of terrorism or non-traditional security threats is something that I think we probably need to consult more closely with each other,” he said.
Security experts were baffled by the Philippine’s handling of the crisis and Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang expressed anger.
Charles Shoebridge, a British security analyst who has worked in counter-terrorism says the officers involved in Manila’s bus siege showed great courage – but they were not properly trained or equipped for the task. He noted 10 areas where in his view, they could have done better.
1.Determination – “They showed great courage to go on board,” Mr Shoebridge says. When they were fired at by the hostage taker, they acted as 99% of the population would have, which was to turn round and get out. They didn’t seem to have the necessary determination and aggression to follow the attack through."
2. Lack of equipment – "They had no ladders to get through the windows. They smashed the windows but didn’t know what to do next," Mr Shoebridge says. "They almost looked like a group of vandals."
3. Lost opportunity to disarm the gunman - "The negotiators were so close to him, and he had his weapon hanging down by his side. He could have been disabled without having to kill him," Mr. Shoebridge
4. Lost opportunity to shoot the gunman - "You are dealing with an unpredictable and irrational individual. The rule should be that if in the course of negotiations an opportunity arises to end the situation decisively, it should be taken," Mr Shoebridge says.
5. Satisfying the gunman’s demands – "I wondered why the authorities just didn’t give in to all of his demands," says Charles Shoebridge. "A promise extracted under force is not a promise that you are required to honour. Nobody wants to give in to the demands of terrorists, but in a situation like this, which did not involve a terrorist group, or release of prisoners, they could have just accepted his demands. He could be reinstated in the police – and then be immediately put in prison for life for hostage taking. The Philippines authorities did in fact give in to the gunman’s demands, but too little, too late. One message promised to review his case, while he wanted it formally dismissed. A second message reinstating him as a police offer only arrived after the shooting had started.”
6. Televised proceedings – The police should always consider putting a barrier or screen around the area, to shield the scene from the cameras and keep the hostage taker in the dark, This was a "crucial defect in the police handling", Mr Shoebridge says.
7. No element of surprise – . The police did not distract him because they moved “laboriously slowly,” so they were unable to exploit the "crucial element of surprise,”, Mr Shoebridge says.
8. Safeguarding the public – "When you saw the camera view from above, it was clear there was little command and control of the public on the ground," he says. The bullet from an M16 rifle, as carried by the gunman, can travel for about a mile, so preventing any risk of injury would have been difficult, Mr Shoebridge says, but a lot more could have been done.
9. Using the gunman’s brother to negotiate – Relatives and close friends can be a double-edged sword, Mr Shoebridge says. While they may have leverage over the hostage taker, what they are saying cannot be easily controlled.
10. Insufficient training -In some parts of the Philippines, such as Mindanao, hostage taking is not an uncommon occurrence, so the country has some forces that are well trained in the necessary tactics. The detachment involved in Monday’s incident clearly was not, says Mr Shoebridge. After smashing the windows, one of the officers eventually put some CS gas inside, though "to what effect was not clear" he says. A unit involved in this work, needs to be "trained again and again, repeatedly practising precisely this kind of scenario," he says.
What others are also reading:
- 8 killed in Hong Thai bus hostage crisis
- Rehabilitation center and school affected by water crisis
- Europe tries to ease debt crisis
- Brother triggered hostage-taker to snap according to negotiator
- Binay not against Aquino's policy on sirens
-
raps
