GOVERNANCE UNDER SPOTLIGHT

THE Series of radio features of the investigation of the Luneta hostage incident has attracted the attention of the nation -- what with the big radio stations pre-empting their programming to give way to the DOJ-led panel. Listening to it, I am truly proud of Sec. de Lima who exhibits a knowledge of her turf - justice. She speaks in clear English but could also in Pilipino in order to accommodate those involved whom she must have perceived not capable of understanding the English language that deeply as she could.

Today, I listened to two people interviewed and interrogated to shed light on the hostage: Col. Yebra the negotiator and the brother of Mendoza, the hostage taker. I could perceive the sincerity of the former to make the negotiations succeed but what hampered him was the bureaucratic procedures that had to be followed in approaching the hostage taker, the need to be always deferring to authority, and his powerlessness in the face of the assault which was never revealed nor told him beforehand. I could only pity him for his sad narration of events.

Then Mendoza's brother exhibited his own feudal ways -- appreciating more the authority of his brother than that of the PNP, but which should not be his fault as well. His actuations only reveal the need for greater reeducation of the PNP force on how to be loyal, true and committed to one's calling, without having to rely on relatives for support.

Now, I am wondering why VP Jojo Binay who had claimed that he underwent a seminar on crisis management of hostage taking in the States never volunteered to help during the incident? Why did he wait to be invited instead of going there or even calling up P.Noy and saying that he could? There is no need for protocol where lives are at stake. It should be the responsibility of everyone to help and not wait anymore to be invited to help.

Saving lives should be the primary consideration where incidents of this kind occur. Pride, protocol, hierarchies should be done away with so that a speedy peaceful resolution of the case could be done. To my mind, if after one hour, the hostage taker is still in control, then a different group should already manage the situation. Why the police waited for 12 hours+ to resolve the case and did not surrender it to the national crisis committee is beyond me. It simply reflects poor judgment and inability to act properly and appropriately.

Now, i think that since P. Noy had taken up the cudgels for the fiasco, some quarters are now airing that possibility of his resigning. That is a shocking view which I think a hidden group is now hatching up to destabilize P.Noy's administration. A broadcaster and a senator with a poor sense of loyalty have brought up this idea of "resignation" and I think they are bringing this country to the brink of a civil disturbance. They should be cut out from public exposure as soon as possible in order to limit their opinions to the sidelines.

At this time, the least we need is a change of presidents, after having had an artificial one for 9 years. Why, after driving and having thousands of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, how come Bush never resigned?

Not that I uphold the rightness of the hostage-taking but rather at this time, changing horses in midstream is thoroughly poor judgment. It will not solve anything. What P. Noy must do I think is get beyond political partisanship and reach out to those in the know about the problems of the country.

And so, I think that governance-wise the weak link for P. Noy is the police and the military whose structure -- very hierarchical -- breeds domineering and authoritarian individuals backed up by arms. It is a very delicate situation as these forces are the ones supposed to protect us and given us security in all times of trouble. I would not be able to fault the Chinese for their fear of coming here since it is now the police which is their object of attention. The police has not really been able to come up with thousands of bemedalled individuals who could be
models for emulation and appreciation by the public. Not even with the yearly (?) recognition by the Metrobank Foundation of police women and men who had done good service would suffice to raise public understanding that the force is one that we should be proud of.

So after the results of the investigation is through, the first order of the day is to free the police force of scalawags. Have a thorough examination of the fitness -- mental, physical, psychological -- of every individual in the police force, maybe even up to the general level -- to check on how they would respond to situations, what their understanding is of their roles in society. There are many psychological tests that could reveal if a person is authoritarian, racist, etcetera. All these tests would be a good ground for checking which ones are fit to be promoted to this and that position.

Also, all new applicants to the police force must be evaluated in terms of their capability to make independent judgments and analysis of situations, and test crimes. I do think this is highly important, since there would be cases when they would later on, after appointment, be facing situations requiring them to solely attend to cases.

Most importantly, rotation of assignments should be done constantly so that the police would not develop authoritarian postures making them see themselves as kings -- not to be critiqued nor to be charged should they commit a negative act -- in the communities, especially. For example, in our community here in Barangay Dona Imelda, I have had to put up with motorcycle riding police assets revving up their engines when they pass by my house, one after the other as soon as they find out that I am awake and am in the sala fronting the road and listening to the radio news.

How they make such noise that I have to up the volume to the highest just to listen to Ted Failon or DZXL give his news for the day.