Keystone Kops caper live on international TV-news

HEADLESS CHICKEN: By now, you would have heard everything that must be said of that bloody Keystone Kops show last Monday at the Quirino grandstand where 57 days ago somebody pep-talked the crowd with a catchy “Kayo ang Boss ko!”

Well, a headless horde of usiseros (kibitzers) acted like the Boss when they took over the scene after dismissed police officer Rolando Mendoza peppered with M16 gunfire 15 bus passengers, most of them tourists set to return that day to Hong Kong.

(If I may digress, why do broadcasters refer to them as “Hong Kong nationals”? Hong Kong is not a nation and has no nationals. They are Chinese nationals. Actually we should even drop the appendage “nationals.” They are simply Chinese, period.)

If the throng that swarmed around the bus looked headless, same thing with the police SWAT (Sila’y Wala Atang Training) members who were crouching and running around with rifles, and mallets!, like the proverbial headless chicken.

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WHERE’S ROBREDO?: Will somebody please spread on the front page and primetime TV news the name and picture of the police ground commander, so we will know whom to credit for that tragic comedy.

 And where was Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo who reportedly showed up only toward the end of the day? Textbook theories and gilded awards turn to stone in gut-and-blood situations like that siege that took eight lives and gave us a blackeye.

Many people were also asking if Director General Jesus Verzosa was still in command of the Philippine National Police when the SWAT team was performing live on TV.

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OUCH!: Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang was apparently also wondering where President Noynoy Aquino was when he called Malacañang later that day for first-hand inputs on the fate of his constituents who had strayed into Manila.

Tsang must have presumed that since it was a Monday, it was not Noynoy’s dayoff. (When I drove to the scene past midnight, there was a swarm of officious vehicles with blinkers on, so he must have been there.)

 The widely read Chinese tabloid the Global Times, run by Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily, said the botched rescue reflected a “deeper malaise” in the country. “The Philippines is one of the most chaotic countries in Southeast Asia,” the newspaper said. “A culture of colonization, autocracy and rapid changes in government have created all sorts of curious grievances in this country.”

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PINOY MADNESS: If Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, one of those who was negotiating, is to be believed, Mendoza was slowly being massaged into an agreeable mood. In fact, he was convinced to free some hostages to show good faith.

But some morons later allowed Mendoza’s brother and family members to go near ground zero, where he went berserk (actually, performed) for the TV cameras inadvertently beaming live feeds to him via the bus’ video monitors. The brother screamed to Mendoza not to agree to the 3 p.m. deadline until “their” (he inserted himself into the deal) demands were met. Other relatives leaped into the melee and cops joined the act by grappling with the hysterical Mendoza troupe.

It was pure madness, and so Filipino. And on live global TV!

All major news networks worth their ratings jostled to beam the spectacle to an international audience that lapped it up, reinforcing their negative impression of the natives of these god-forsaken islands.

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WHERE’S GMA?: Around midnight, or some 12 hours after Mendoza took over the bus at gunpoint, a smiling President Aquino appeared on nationwide TV to give his benighted views of his country apparently going to pieces.

He gave an incoherent and inconclusive report. One wished he announced instead the sacking of several of his men. Somebody big had to go. Gloria Arroyo was no longer around to take the blame.

The President admitted deficiencies in the rescue operation, but offered excuses and a resolve to correct the system. He also underscored the gunman’s access to TV and radio making it hard for the police to do their job.

He started to chide the media, but stopped short of criticizing his favorite radio-TV network.

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GET THAT STORY: Yes, media will have to take part of the blame for that botched rescue. They pushed the line when nobody was enforcing it.

Without the media owners and the authorities showing the way, the working press will have to operate on its own.

Reporters (a generic term for all those gathering and writing news) will do anything to get the story. They do not want to be scooped. Their editors want stories, not excuses.

If a police line is keeping them away from their subject and nobody seems to be minding or enforcing the flimsy ribbon, they are likely to go beyond the line to get their story ahead.

A reporter will not stay away and risk missing a story or a good shot while he sees everybody else scampering for a vantage.

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FIRM COVENANT: Before a situation arises where a police line will have to be thrown around a crime scene, there should be clear rules, a firm covenant and a consistently fair enforcement of the rules.

A police line should not be set up just anywhere — like leaving red lights needlessly turned on at night at a darkened area where no vehicle or pedestrian crosses at that late hour.

The authorities will have to discuss this with media owners and managers, as well as press guilds, to call attention again to the problem and agree again on maximizing compliance.

Without this firm agreement, when another Keystone Kops or a similar caper breaks out, a media free-for-all will ensue.

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