Do we kill or deal?

What do we do if another hostage situation actually happened this week?

In the middle of all the blaming and finger pointing that has gone on, one wonders if we will be able to better deal with another crisis such as we saw in front of the Quirino grandstand.

Will the police still be following the “old” Standard Operating Procedure” meaning; negotiate, communicate, allow coverage, and then start shooting at sunset?

Very few people seem to have shown interest in correcting or addressing what is clearly an urgent need. We need to change the policy concerning hostage taking and we need one now.

The first thing that needs to be addressed is the State’s attitude and policy on hostage takers. What message do we want to send criminals and lunatics concerning hostage taking.

Right now, what we are telling them is that we are willing to negotiate with all hostage takers.

But because we actually negotiate, we have in effect taken the bite out of breaking the law. People could not believe that hostage taker Rolando Mendoza was actually convinced he could hold people hostage and think that he could get his old job back. Unfortunately that is how desperate people understand our policy of hostage negotiations.

Given this bone-chilling wake up call, the question before us now is: Do we kill or do we deal?

I am reminded of the hard line stance of the Israeli government concerning any and all criminal acts directed at their citizens by extremists and terrorists alike. They will go after you and they will take you down. If they ever so much as hear you are plotting to hurt or maim them, that will be the last mistake you will commit.

I am not painting our Israeli neighbors as cold-blooded murderers. What they are is a nation that has recognized the reality of extremist terrorism and criminal violence. After their citizens were killed in Entebbe and Munich, they told the world that they were going to act swiftly against their enemies and they have consistently kept that promise.

The Israelis have clearly learned from their history and national tragedies, isn’t it about time that we do likewise? Hostage taking has become a far too familiar crisis in our country and it is about time that we promise future hostage takers that we will kill “you” at the first chance we get. So don’t even think about it!

Yes it is unpleasant, yes it might be unpopular to the civilized world, but are we not being pilloried and condemned by the civilized world for our failure because we tried to be civilized in handling the hostage situation.

Because lives will be at stake, and because we know the intent of a hostage taker, we cannot entertain the lofty ideals of anti-death penalty supporters. A criminal who takes this course of action has signed off on life and is willing to terminate the life of others. This is not about penalty; this is about pre-emptive action with extreme prejudice. The message must be loud and clear: No deal.

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I don’t know if the situation applies to all areas of the Philippine National Police, but it is undeniably clear that the Manila Police is seriously in need of cleansing, retraining, and redemption.

From bemedaled cops to cops that plant evidence, law enforcers turning into torturers, officials accused of kidnapping suspects, to dismissed personnel allowed to keep uniforms and weapons, it is obvious that rules were no longer being strictly enforced, procedures were largely ignored and violations and abuse undoubtedly being tolerated.

Even officials of the PNP can’t deny that rather than charge cops administratively and criminally for using recovered car-napped vehicles, officials simply send out memos and announcements telling the secondary-“cop-nappers” to return recovered vehicles!

While I have been largely supportive of the PNP I have often called attention to the fact that the PNP officials have allowed or created a culture where personal and professional discipline has been ignored or devalued.

When police officers can counter-flow, enter one-way streets, ride motorcycles without helmets or license plates, when they are allowed to moonlight as escorts, when they believe that being a cop allows them to stop anyone for any reason and shout at civilians, when a police officer’s ultimate goal is government posting and not becoming the best cop on the block, you know that our Philippine National Police is in trouble.

When policemen can run to the media to complain or protest or defy orders to change their “colors” you know that our law enforcers no longer has the level of discipline required and expected from the service.

When Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson was the Chief PNP I remember that he gained celebrity status for his no-nonsense policy of chasing down misfits in the PNP. Then one day he issued a memorandum order to cops driving around in recovered car-napped vehicles.

Instead of catching the guilty cops, he let them surrender the cars, no-questions asked. I remember commenting then, that, that one compromise would be the beginning of the end. The fear that crooked cops once had of Ping Lacson soon waned.

Once again the same situation has happened with the PNP in the NCR. Sadly I can’t even say it’s the beginning of the end because it only follows in a long series of serious sins and serious mistakes of the PNP.

Perhaps our government and our legislators should focus on the PNP organization and find out if there is no better way or operational design for our law enforcement. Do we need to change the leaders or the entire organization?