EDITORIAL - Time to move on

Enough already. Everything that needed to be said about the Quirino Grandstand hostage crisis last Monday has probably been said already. It is time to move on. But this time let us move on in one direction.

And that one direction is to learn our lessons and profit from our mistakes. Unless that is the one direction we will all be taking, then the chances are great we will keep on suffering from our intransigence and neglect.

To be sure, there are many hurdles to challenge us as we move toward that one direction. And that is because the mistakes that have been made, and the lessons to be derived from them, all involve many aspects.

There is, for instance, the clear need to improve on the capability of the police to deal with and respond to all sorts of crisis situations. The police need to upgrade their skills to world standards and be provided with the latest equipment and weaponry available.

This will cost money. But that is only money. The losses we suffered from last Monday's debacle were far more costly than can be quantified in monetary terms. The choices presented to us are very clear. How we make those choices will be ominous.

Then there is the matter of putting in black and white the guidelines and procedures that need to spring into action without ambiguity and hesitation the moment the situation arises for their implementation. The chain of command must be rid of all clutter.

As for the media, there is a clear need for representatives of this sector to sit down with the authorities to draft applicable codes of conduct crafted not to curtail the work of a free press but to enhance professionalism and responsibility in very delicate situations.

Those situations must be very clearly defined, otherwise it becomes very easy for good intentions to get derailed when the lines get blurred in times of great anxiety and stress. There is a need to memorize certain heads-up procedures to the point of their becoming reflex actions.

There is a bigger picture that all those concerned need to contribute to to make complete. Anything short of making that big picture complete and discernible is a failure. And we will all be doomed to suffer again the insufferable.