holding back

there’s still so much to be said and asked about the aug 23 bloodbath but i’m holding back just because the hong kong chinese are hurt enough, enraged enough, and things are bad enough for filipinos in hong kong.   also, even if i didn’t vote for him, i don’t want to make it worse for the president who, naturally, is getting the brunt of the blame for distancing himself, treating the hostaging of foreigners as a local rather than national affair.

like philippine star‘s boo chanco says, it’s P-Noy’s leadership abilities on the line:

He is just two months into the job and I want to believe he is competent and able to do the right things. Now I am not sure because of how badly he miscalculated the gravity of the hostage crisis. I also get the impression he is not organized to handle crisis situations. I am not even sure the people around him are experienced enough to handle crisis. For some of them, including the also invisible Executive Secretary, last Monday’s event may even be their first crisis situation….

Probably the Palace didn’t think much of the situation atthe start. That’s the first mistake. That’s probably why the President confidently left the matter to the police and went on to discuss with the Health Secretary the worsening dengue epidemic and the budget message with his budget secretary.

Any crisis involving life and death situations, more so one with international repercussions, should be given high priority. Duh! If the President’s Communications Team had more experience, they should have been more persuasive with the President taking a higher profile specially after the major networks pre-empted regular programming in favor of a live coverage of the event.

So we are told P-Noy was actually engaged. He was reported to have spent time that afternoon and evening at the nearby Emerald restaurant that served as a kind of command headquarters. But no one knew that. For all we knew, he was just feasting on the excellent jumbo siopao for which Emerald is known for. I understand, he was advised to stay in the shadows. It was a bad advice as we now all know.

Worse… the first thing the public saw and heard after the carnage was a President who seemed remote and in the words of a Hong Kong legislator, frivolous and dismissive. It was unfortunate that P-Noy was seen by the world with a smirk on his face as he said that anyway, there were more casualties in similar hostage events in Russia (the one in the concert hall and the one in a schoolhouse in Beslan) and the one in Germany (possibly Munich Olympics).

That may be true and may probably provide perspective but was a most insensitive thing to say. It was also beside the point at a time when 8 lives were lost because of our inept handling of the situation….

The incident also confirmed our worse fears that Coloma and Carandang are not talking to each other. They are not synchronizing the message coming out of the Palace. They may even be trying to upstage each other. What a horrible mess!!!

If the Palace is this dysfunctional in handling a crisis involving one crazy man, how will P-Noy and his boys handle a repeat of an Ondoy situation or heaven forbid… a major earthquake along the Marikina fault line? I shudder at the thought!…

In our column last Friday, we were ready to be more understanding because we thought they (the Manila police) didn’t have enough training and equipment. But that is not the case. There were units that had the right training and equipment except that they were not used by the ground commander. If this isn’t stupidity, I don’t know what is.

If P-Noy had a more direct hand, I am sure he would have the sense to order the use of the more trained Police Special Action Force or the US-trained Light Reaction Company (LRC) which is under the military’s Joint Special Operations Group instead of the jokers in the Manila Police’s so called SWAT group….

What P-Noy ends up doing in the next few weeks will be carefully watched by everyone. What he does or fails to do will impact on how people feel about his competence and credibility as our country’s Chief Executive. Speaking for myself, I want P-Noy to succeed for our sake. But he needs to show leadership or the next six years will be a continuation of the horrible years we seem to be doomed to suffer. Right now, P-Noy seems too laid back for comfort.

enough said.   for all our sakes let’s pray that justice secretary leila de lima’s investigation proceeds as professionally and impeccably as possible, and that the chips are allowed to fall where they may, regardless of consequences to whomever.

Comments

  1. UP nn grad

    Compare Noynoy-circle to Obama-circle and you’ll notice quickly the weaknesses.
    — Obama : VP Biden; spouse Michelle
    — Noynoy: Binay??? (nope, they’re not even close!); spouse??? none

    Noynoy indeed is too laid back. Noynoy, despite his Aquino bloodline, does not have political savvy, which probably explains why he could not get a law passed during his years in Congress. Noynoy mistakenly thought that the Quirino grandstand was small (that could be left to a Vice-Mayor and a PNP-commander).

    A fire in Navotas or a run-away bus in Benguet are local, small, and can be left to local govt officials to supervise. Quirino grandstand was bigger that needed a specific Cabinet secretary to become Noynoy’s eyes-and-ears over the matter.

  2. manuelbuencamino

    UPnn,

    The man who does not have political savvy just won an election by the largest margin ever, what are you talking about?

    “A fire in Navotas or a run-away bus in Benguet are local, small, and can be left to local govt officials to supervise. Quirino grandstand was bigger that needed a specific Cabinet secretary to become Noynoy’s eyes-and-ears over the matter.”

    Dude, not to people from Navotas and Benguet.

  3. hey manuel. competennce is not measured by the number of votes a winning candidate gathered during the election. It is situations like the one that happened at quirino grandstand that proves ones readiness to lead the more than 90 million filipinos.

  4. Where was he?

    A simple question you’d think it is, ironically for an administration sworn to transparency, YET, it remains a mystery. If they knew the answer, they’d have issued an hour-by-hour sked: he was here 10am… there at 11:30… at twelve he was meeting with so and so… all the while monitoring the event on tv.

    There is no such thing, so the question remains: WHERE WAS HE?

    They say he was at Emerald Restaurant… interesting. This I copy-pasted from the comments sec of philstar.com:

    “… he staff of the Emerald Restaurant was interviewed to reconstruct the whereabouts of Noynoy and his men. According to the report, Carandang and Lim arrived at 7:30 pm while Noynoy came in between 8:30 to 9:00 pm. This is contrary to earlier reports that Noynoy was in the Emerald (which was being used as a command center) supervising the operation all along. This time line shows that Carandang only arrived at the Emerald when the shooting had already begun, while Noynoy came when it was already over.

    By the way, Noynoy and his staff even had the time to order food…”

  5. I’m sorry Manuel but political savvy did not win him the elections.Anger at GMA’s govt. and Tita Cory’s death delivered him the presidency on a plate. For us who voted and campaigned for him we just closed our eyes for a moment to his perceived shortcomings as we were hopeful that his being the son of Ninoy and Cory would give him the character that this nation needs to lead us.We just wanted TRUTH and accountability from the new administration. His recent actions sorely disappoints.

  6. Unfortunately we are condemned with 6 years of his presidency. The question is, what are YOU going to do about it?

    You can complain all you want or you can help our country…it’s your call now.

  7. its interesting how people view what the proper role of the president is.

    in many places, the president is NOT responsible for tactical decisions. he is responsible for policy, and the communication of said policy.

    Ex for the US

    policy: we should invade Iraq — the president
    communication of policy — the president
    strategy:how we will invade Iraq — Generals

    Question: shouldnt we grade the president on policy? not strategy?

    hence, i dont get boo chanco’s criticism here. what, in his view, DOES the president do in a crisis situation that requires military or police participation?

    i agree with chanco here:

    “the first thing the public saw and heard after the carnage was a President who seemed remote and in the words of a Hong Kong legislator, frivolous and dismissive.”

    although i myself didnt find it frivolous, etc… the presscon should have been short and sweet. this is definitely part of the job, but i myself didnt find it objectionable.

    he also should have communicated his policy to the HK govt MUCH better.

  8. @gabbyd,
    “policy: we should invade Iraq — the president
    communication of policy — the president
    strategy:how we will invade Iraq — Generals”

    invading Iraq is not a policy, it is a decision . A policy is a guide to carry out decisions.

    If the decision is to invade Iraq, then the policy would cover what are the reasons for such adoption, the date and other whats to justify its asoption.
    The strategies cover the why, the where and the when. For the latter to have positive outcome, the policies should have been followed as guidelines.

    Policy formulation is not done by one person; not even a CEO or the president. There is a need for a meeting of minds and thorough discussion as to its pros and cons.

    Did the government do that to resolve the hostage taking incident? There was no meeting until it’s too late.

    Communication requires a sender, a message and a recipient.

    Who communicated what to whom during the hostage taking? From the mouth of Robredo, the public came to know that there was no order for him to take charge because it was Rico Puno who takes care of the police matters. He even mentioned that when he came to Emerald Resto, he was the only cabinet member present.

    What policy regarding media should have communicated?

    What policy in handling the safety of the tourists was communicated?

    So gabby, policy and communications are the missing elements in the crisis management.

  9. “For us who voted and campaigned for him we just closed our eyes for a moment to his perceived shortcomings as we were hopeful that his being the son of Ninoy and Cory would give him the character that this nation needs to lead us.”

    Competence is not hereditary. Incompetent people who do not admit their mistakes (in fact makes a lot of justifications for the errors committed) are suffering from illusory superiority…and therefore can not develop and will not be able to develop the level of competence required of a leader.

    sometimes the illusory effect is caused by fawning subordinates who make “sipsip” by providing rationalizations even though they are UNACCEPTABLE (i really like this word).

  10. The tragic ending of this hostage crisis is a product of comedy of errors from the ombudsman, the pnp, the media, the local govt, the people and the president. The whole country is swallowing the mockery and criticism not only from Hong Kong residents but from the international community. The worst part is, even our own people is not letting up. They continue to bash its own people and its govt.

    I have no doubt in my mind we shall one day rise up from this. It’s really up to us what role we want to play. Any help to make this country great again. I like Angela’s stand of Holding Back.

    The burden of uplifting the nation rests not on government shoulders alone but on people’s hands as well.

  11. UP nn grad

    Reason for people to yell disenchantment is this. Silence is compliance; silence may be misinterpreted by those in power that they did all right. After all — “what are we in power for?”

    [PS: Below documents where Noynoy was on Aug 23.]
    http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/08/23/10/gina-lopez-takes-oath-pasig-river-rehab-chief

    Posted at 08/23/2010 6:48 PM | Updated as of 08/23/2010 6:48 PM

    MANILA, Philippines – ABS-CBN Foundation director Regina “Gina” Lopez took her oath as chair of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) before President Benigno Aquino III on Monday.

    Ms. Lopez was accompanied by her brother, ABS-CBN chairman Gabby Lopez.

    Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ricky Carandang denied that Lopez’s appointment was a political reward.

  12. UP nn grad

    And then, this —- or lack of command.

    http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/08/31/10/turf-war-malaca%C3%B1ang-bungled-hostage-crisis

    Inamin din ni Carandang na hanggang ngayon hindi niya alam kung sino ang dapat mangasiwa sa media sa tuwing may krisis. “Kailangan namin makipag-usap.. Nakita naman natin noong nakaraaan na medyo hindi malinaw kung sino ang pointman padating sa pagharap sa media noong nakaraang crisis.. Kailangan linawin natin sa loob,” paliwanag ni Carandang.

    Sinisisi ngayon ng ilang sources sa administrasyon ang mga paksyon sa Gabinete kaya pumalpak ang pagsagip sa mga hostages. Hindi raw nag-uusap nang maayos ang ilang opisyal dahil sa iringan ng mga paksyong Samar at Balay. Samar ang tawag sa grupo ng mga malalapit sa pamilya Aquino; Balay naman ang mga kakampi ng Liberal Party at Hyatt 10.

    Si Carandang ay bata umano ng mga taga-Balay habang ang isa pang media communications secretary na si Sonny Coloma ay manok umano ng taga-Samar.

  13. @cat

    we agree on the fact that policy is done by the president (vs tactical strategy). so color me surprised by this:

    “Policy formulation is not done by one person; not even a CEO or the president. There is a need for a meeting of minds and thorough discussion as to its pros and cons.”

    we should expect accountability from the president in the formation of policy. yes, more than 1 is responsible for the policy, but ultimately, its the president and his party that must be accountable for it.

    handling the hostage taking incident is a TACTICAL DECISION. how should we attack, how should the press be managed, etc… all tactical. there is a small group that did the tactical decisions.

    they were wrong. “waiting him out” strategy Is WRONG. sending the MPD swat is WRONG. they should be replaced because they were wrong. thats accountability.

    instead, we want to punish people who arent involved, as long as they are high ranking and visible?

    bakit? sacrifice to the altar of accountability? hay naku…

    the policy position here is obvious. and the president communicated it. ayaw tanggapin ng tao coz, for some reason people WANT the president to make tactical decisions. i dont understand it. no other country expects that from their national leadership. but the philippines? geez. bakit?

  14. hay naku! Pinag-iinitan si President Noynoy dahil merong nangyaring hostage-taking at merong mga namatay na hostages. Sa ibang bansa, mayroon ding nangyayaring ganyang hostage-taking at mga namamamatay, sinisisi ba nila ang kanilang presidente? Kung sa America ba nangyari iyan, si President Obama ba ang sisisihin ng mga Americano? Kung ang sagot sa tanong ay hindi, tigilan na natin ang ating presidente para naman patas ang trato natin sa ating kababayan.

  15. “the policy position here is obvious. and the president communicated it. ayaw tanggapin ng tao coz, for some reason people WANT the president to make tactical decisions.”

    What was the policy communicated? When? Who received the communication? What time was it received?

    So invading Iraq is a policy? So getting married is a policy?

  16. Pinag-initan si Persidente dahil “smile!”.

    Pinag-initan si N/A dahil hindi alam kung nasaan siya nuong Agosto bente-tres. Pinag-initan si Noy dahil mukhang inililipat ang sisi sa media at ayaw niyang harapin ang pagkukulang ng kaniyang organisasyon. Pinag-initan si N/A dahil iyong kaniyang organisasyon sali-salimuot at ubod ng gulo.

    Pero ku-wayet muna… sabi ni de Lima, gag-order.

  17. “Kung sa America ba nangyari iyan, si President Obama ba ang sisisihin ng mga Americano? Kung ang sagot sa tanong ay hindi, tigilan na natin ang ating presidente para naman patas ang trato natin sa ating kababayan.”

    Kinukumparas mo ang langgam sa elepante sa laki ng bansa at sa dami ng populasyon.

    Meron din ditong sisihan, hindi ka lang siguro nagbabasa.

    45 per cent ng Americano ay sinisi si Bush sa 9/11. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/11/911.poll/index.html

    Sinisisi rin ng ibang leaders si BUSH sa Katrina hindi dahil sa ineptness ng FEMA kung hindi ang failure ng gobyerno na i-address and environmental POLICIES.

    “Germany’s environmental minister says, “neglected environmental policies” in the U.S. have led to global warming and catastrophic weather. Minister Jurgen Trittin insists, “The Bush government rejects international climate protection goals by insisting that imposing them would negatively impact the American economy.”

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168105,00.html

  18. manuelbuencamino

    The assault was a disaster. The messaging was a disaster too. Confidence in the President’s ability to govern siffered a big blow. It will require a lot of work to show that the mishandling of the incident is the norm rather than the exception. I wish the President’s and his team all the luck because I believe their heart is in the right place.

    Also. I will criticize those involved in the incident but I will not criticize the negotiators who tried their best and risk their lives in the process of getting the hostages out safely.Nor will I criticze the Palace aide who took Donald Tsang’s phone call and followed all the correct procedures to screen the call.

  19. @angela

    indeed, this is what i’m talking about.

    no one in america is saying obama should have been there to decide to use “top hat” or “over kill”… or whatever oplan that they used.

    he said BP has the best knowledge to deal with it.

    what obama has to do/swore to do:

    “President Barack Obama, struggling to get on top of the worst oil spill in U.S. history, vowed an overhaul of U.S. laws and regulations needed to prevent a repeat of the April 20 rig explosion that killed 11 people and triggered the spill.” –> this is policy

    “Obama raised the prospect of criminal prosecutions.” –> this is policy

    “If our laws were broken leading to this death and destruction, my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe and the people of the Gulf region,” Obama said.” –> this is policy.

    had this been an international incident, there would be a need to coordinate actions with other countries. (or at least communicate what is happening)

  20. ” Pinag-initan si Noy dahil mukhang inililipat ang sisi sa media”

    i cant understand this either. in the press con, malinaw ang sinabi nya na hindi nakatulong ang blow by blow live coverage.

    how people can see this as “inililipat ang sisi sa media” is beyond my ken.

  21. @angela

    this is what i’m talking about. obama is expected to perform policy. in the article u linked to, he was about:

    1) new laws
    2) criminal charges

    he was NOT about: should we do “top hat” or not?

    di ba this is the same with Pnoy? he is clear: the people responsible would be punished, it must be clear that money is used by PNP well, guidelines to deal with hostage situation, media guidelines…

    these are all policy, diba? this IS what pnoy should be doing right?

  22. @cat

    like i said to angela:

    in the presscon, and later on, he said: “the people responsible would be punished, it must be clear that money is used by PNP well, guidelines to deal with hostage situation, media guidelines…”

    these are all appropriate things to do. obviously, he didnt do it as well as he could have. but cmon, lets be fair naman — all of that, lumabas sa communications ni pnoy sa media.

    also, he did the diplomatic thing wrong too. while he shouldnt dictate tactics, he should communicate the situation to mr. tsang. he did that much later pa.

  23. Ganun talaga gabby. Meron nga sinisisi si pnoy dahil di daw sila close ni binay. As if kasalanan ng presidente yun. Compared pa nya si obama eh sa U.S. the vp has to be in the same party as the president…comment ba ng ganun kundi tanga. Tas sisihin pa dahil single daw ang presidente haays.

    The bottomline, there are those who are concerned about the country and those who are alarmist. Crab mentality or colonial mentality. They raise hell when foreigners are harmed but they don’t say anthing when pinoys are killed abroad.

    Or perhaps their candidate lost in the last election and now is their chance to air their frustrations. Move on people. China already appreciates the steps being taken. If you hate your government that much…go live in china instead. Maybe they would appreciate you there.

  24. gabbyd ;) di ko lang mahanap the link to another article i read where people were demanding action from obama much earlier, that there was so much he could have ordered done that would have minimized the volume of oil spill. if only he had listened to environmentalists and other kibitzers. it’s not so much in the articles written but in the comments

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bp-oil-spill-obama-tours-gulf-coast-criticism/story?id=10770650

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38906337/ns/nightly_news/

    it’s the same with pnoy. he could have been more engaged, earlier, and he wasn’t. so things were going well, some hostages were released, but it was naive to think the hostage-taker would just get tired and give up without a fight. he should have expected the worst rather than the best.

  25. i am watching a hostage situation now in maryland live from the washington channel. 1,900 people including babies were safely evacuated. Negotiations are going on but they are not covered live. It has been more than 4 hours already. The hostage taker is said to have pipe bombs and is holding unspecified number of employees. Every hour, the police team is updating the media. The man was identified to be James Lee.

    The film clips being shown in the TV were rerun.

    No hysterical member of media are reporting the incident.

    it is not only the local police authorities which are involved. Even the FBI and other national disaster agencies were tapped.

  26. “i am watching a hostage situation now in maryland live from the washington channel.”-The Ca t

    I just hope Pres. Obama don’t forget not to smile after a disaster. Also, that he make known his where about during the negotiation. Also, that he will be taking charge of the operation.

    Kung hindi, lagot siya sa mga Fil-Ams doon…na mahilig makialam sa trabaho ng presidente, :), hehehehe.

  27. “I just hope Pres. Obama don’t forget not to smile after a disaster. Also, that he make known his where about during the negotiation. Also, that he will be taking charge of the operation. ”

    More than 2.000 people including children were evacuated from the building in the first hour of the hostager situation. Siguro kung hindi nailabas ang mga yon, baka nakialam na si Obama. Maryland is just a few miles from Washington.

    It is not only the local police authorities who handled the situation even the national disaster corrdinating units were there. Negotiations were made without the media. Ang media kumukuha lang ng updates sa pulis every hour.

    Dapat ganoon ang ginawa dito. Ni retrato ng pinatay na hostsge taker ng SWAT sniper hindi pinakita.

    You do not have to be an expert to see the big difference. But we can learn a lesson or two. Paano kang tatahimik kung nakikita mo ang maling ginawa?

  28. Hi Bert long time no see.

    Alam mo parang basketbol yan. Kung panalo kayo, sinong papansin sa mga palpak niyo? Panalo e. Pero kung talo, asahan mo, lalo na kung inaasahang panalo kayo dahil super duper and inyong team, pero talo lampaso, aasahan mo, iisaisahin yan ang lahat ng inyong mga palpak.

    Kung naresolba kaagad, kahit pa malamang natutulog lang si PNoy habang kasagsagan, sasabihin nyan, o so cool and confident ang ating President. E Hindi, malas niya, sori.

  29. Sa basketbol pa rin, kung kita mo naman puspusan ang laro, matindi ang banat ng lahat kaya lang talagang mas magaling ang kalaban, me kahalo pang malas, talo man, naiintindihan.

    Ang matinding pagpuna ay dahilan sa mukhang labo-labo at parang walang namamahala sa mga pangyayari tapos yong rescue team sana man lang parang yung nakikita mo sa sine, precise, sharp, quick at nakikita mong well-trained. Buhay ang nakataya, ang impresion kung nanonood ka fram afar, parang wala lang, mukhang hindi seryoso.

  30. Hi, ricelander! Tuwa naman ako, nagkita-kita tayong magkakarantso dito sa blog ni angela, :).

    Tungkol naman sa mga banat kay Noynoy, ito lang ang masasabi ko na may kinalaman sa ganitong mga salita mo: “Kung naresolba kaagad, kahit pa malamang natutulog lang si PNoy habang kasagsagan, sasabihin nyan, o so cool and confident ang ating President. E Hindi, malas niya, sori.”

    Agree ako diyan. Ang problema ay iyang mga bumabanat sa presidente natin dahil sa nangyaring hostage-taking. Maaaring tama ka na kung naresolba kaagad, sasabihing cool and confident ang ating presidente. Subali’t, tingnan mo ngayon, Pare, ang mga banat nila kay Noynoy, ilan lang ang babanggitin ko: 1. ngumiti kasi, 2. hindi kasi malaman kung nasaan siya, 3. magulo kasi ang mga officials, 4. pumalpak kasi ang mga pulis. In short, Pare ko, kasalanan daw ni Noynoy kung bakit nangyari ang nangyari. Hehehehe, ang lalim! Kung upakan ang presidente tungkol sa nangyaring ito, akala mo walang ibang malalang problema ang ating bansa, at ang ating mga kababayan, na kailangang asikasuhin ng ating presidente.

  31. bert,

    ang East Coast ay nahaharap sa isang malakig bagyo na kahit ang National Hurricane Center kung talagang saan dadaan.

    sasabihin na naman ninyo na ito a responsibilidad lang ng mga governor at mayors ng ibang bansa at walang pakialam ang presidente.

    Ito ang balita:

    President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration for North Carolina Wednesday evening. The action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts, and also makes federal funds available to states. Maryland’s governor issued an emergency declaration earlier in the day.

    http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/02/tropical.weather/index.html?hpt=T1

  32. Hoy Cat expert ka siguro sa hostage taking crisis bakit di ka mag apply sa gobyerno para mapakinabangan ka. Ang dami mong alam kung anong dapat at hindi dapat gawin. Sayang naman ang talent mo. Pati iniisip at sasabihin ni bert alam mo rin. Psychic ka pa pala. Make yourself useful will you?

  33. It is easy for us to speculate and form our opinions while watching it on tv or online in the comfort of our own homes. We know exactly what to do after the fact. It’s called monday morning quarterback. We could blame them all we want but it still won’t change the outcome.

    People are dead all because a decorated cop decided to kill innocent civilians. The government made a big booboo in handling the crisis and they are reaping the mockery and ire of international community, particularly china.

    It took a deranged man to expose the ills of our nation and the govt in worldwide arena. If they would not take corrective measures in the future, then I would join you guys in your protest. But for now, let’s give them a chance.

  34. Bert, ganito kasi yan. Balik tayo sa basketbol. Kung maayos ang laro ng team, precise at well-executed ang mga set plays, credit lahat sa players, di mo napapansin ang coach. Pero pag magulo ang play at kanya-kanya na, walang tumatawag ng timeout, hahanapin mo ang coach. Ang sarap batukan. Punta kang bench, tanungin mo, sino ba dito ang coach, ang sagot, ewan, hindi ako,tumutulong lang ako. Patay. Tanong: sinong me kasalanan?

    Who was calling the shots? Alfredo Lim, as far as I could see. Yet why was he almost invisible, suddenly media shy? This is not the Lim we know. In fact he would claim he was simply trying to coordinate the situation and not the one in charge. Turns out, he was responsible for sacking the cop-turned-hostage-taker sometime ago. His visibility could in fact only add fire to the already vulnerable situation. Someone other than Lim should call the shots!

    Hey, where was Verzosa? He should be somewhere around. No, he was in Mindanao! Christ!

    Secretary Robredo should be calling the shots being DILG chief. But turns out he is not supposed to have control the PNP.(What?! He is secretary of half of DILG?) No wonder he was thoroughly confused with his role. Where was the undersec who is supposed to handle the PNP half of the DILG? He too was a confused soul. He thought his job is only as eyes and ears of PNoy on PNP affairs! Jesus!

    The way i see it bert, confusion extends all the way up. Confusion at ground level simply reflected it back. I don’t know. I guess whoever had the power to smoothen all the confusion but did not or would not should bear most of the blame. What do you think?

  35. “Hoy Cat expert ka siguro sa hostage taking crisis bakit di ka mag apply sa gobyerno para mapakinabangan ka.”

    niknok, ito ang mga ocmment ng mgaa pikon.

    hulaan ko ang IQ mo nasa dulo ng buhok AT huwag mong gugupitin, baka mawala.

    ano ba sa palagay mo bakit alam ko ang mga kalakaran sa gobyerno?

  36. hahaha nagbibiro lang ako niknok. magcomment sana tayo ng may relevance sa issue.

    nagmellow na ako sa kapaparticipate sa mga forum at thread. you won’t like me when i turn green as in Hulk. pero instead makipag-away saiyo, iiwanan ko na naman itong website na ito kagaya ng ginawa ko kay MLQ3 at FV.

  37. ricelander,

    Your basketball analogy will show that Noynoy’s detractors are barking at the wrong tree. Noynoy was definitely not the coach. He’s not an expert on resolving hostage-taking problem, so that if what happened was a basketball game, Noynoy would definitely not qualify as the coach, nor would it be wise for him to volunteer as the coach. Kung baga, Ginebra San Miguel ang lalaban, si Jaworski ang dapat na coach dahil magaling siya sa basketball. Kung si Noynoy ang CEO ng La Tondena, na siyang manufacturer ng Ginebra San Miguel, kasalanan ba ni Noynoy iyon kung tinalo ng Toyota ang Ginebra? What do you think?

  38. bert,I don’t think you got the analogy right.

    Go back to where I said: “… magulo ang play at kanya-kanya na, walang tumatawag ng timeout, hahanapin mo ang coach. Ang sarap batukan. Punta kang bench, tanungin mo, sino ba dito ang coach, ang sagot, ewan, hindi ako,tumutulong lang ako. Patay. Tanong: sinong me kasalanan?”

    Hint: who could fire and hire a coach?

  39. “Hint: who could fire and hire a coach?”-ricelander

    Ah, it’s getting clearer and clearer, palagay ko magkaka-intindihan na tayo, ricelander, :).

    From all accounts, I think that the ‘coach’ was Rico Puno, no doubt about it. The guy botched it, and he admitted it, he said he’s ignorant about ‘basketball coaching’, heheh. Why Noynoy placed that inept guy in that position was Noynoy’s personal judgment call, maybe he misjudged the capability of Rico Puno, but that’s understandable. He trusted the guy, thinking perhaps that the guy can be depended upon in such a situation… and the guy failed him. President Noynoy had apologized already for making that grave error of choice, and he admitted and took the full responsibility for what happened. What to do? Noynoy should now ax Rico Puno and remove him permanently from his government before he can contribute more harm than good.

    What got my goat are those people who I called Noynoy’s detractors and critics, mostly against him from the very beginning and probably did not vote for him during the election therefore belonging to his political opposition, who kept on harping and blaming the president for that hostage-taking fiasco as if he was the ‘coach’ (your term) of the ‘game’. I have this nagging feeling that these detractors are supporters/loyalists of either Gloria, Villar, or, Gibo, :D, hehehehe.

  40. there you go bert.

    now, as to how far you go in extending the blame, yes, alliances do count; i guess that’s the nature of the game. if this thing happened in exactly the same manner under the regime of a President you don’t like, think about it, you could be mounting the same jeering exercise.
    To the people we hate, it’s the eye of the needle, to the people we like the whole wide mouth of the Mississippi River.

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