The Dark (K)Night
I was almost home when the whole hostage situation, simply put, went to hell. Wanting to see what I missed on live TV, I watched the recorded episode of TV Patrol later that night on the internet and boy did my heart race while doing so. There was this part of me that felt like I was in the cinema, watching an actual action movie minus the popcorn and Dolby surround sound.
What happened on Monday had the makings of a really good movie (or, at the very least, a kick-ass music video):
Now, if the Monday bloodbath was indeed a movie, it could be considered as one that leaves you with this heavy feeling in your chest, like Moulin Rogue or The Hurt Locker. In Filipino colloquial terms, andun na eh, na-udlot pa.
Facebook and the blogosphere were flooded with comments and reactions to the poorly-handled situation. There were those who blamed Mendoza and said "I'm still proud to call myself Pinoy but I'm not proud to call Mendoza Pinoy". (I believe someone has created an FB page with that name already. Oh wow how witty, how very new!) There were those who blamed the media (Imagine hearing the words, "Tangina ka! Tao yan hindi baboy!" over and over again on Primetime. Now that's what I call reality TV.) There were those who blamed the police and came up with various definitions for the acronym S.W.A.T. There were those who blamed the absent president who always has this annoying grin plastered on his face, and believe it or not, there were some who still blamed Gloria for all of this. There were those who simply chose to express their support for Venus Raj and looked at her as the last beacon of hope for this country. Of course, there were some who wrote these uberly-patriotic notes/entries/articles, which I would have done a couple of years ago when I still believed I was an apostle of The Grander Scheme of Things.
In situations like this, it's normal to point fingers. It's not a good thing to do, but that's the normal reaction. I admit to pointing all of my fingers and toes to the Police. As much as I would like to say that everything that happened is just a part of Heaven's grand plans, or that we must look at this as a wake-up call for unity and a better government, and that everyone is to blame or that we should not and must not blame, I simply can't.
(By the way, here is my final list:
3rd Runner-Up: Pres. Benigno Aquino III
2nd Runner-Up: The Mendoza Brother/s
1st Runner-Up: Mendoza himself
Grand Winner: WPD/SWAT)
In the middle of the fiasco I couldn't help but ask "Where is Batman when you need him?" If Batman were there to handle the situation, no one would have died. Not even Mendoza. He would have gotten a broken nose and lost a couple of teeth, but he definitely wouldn't have gotten bullets in his skull. We Pinoys love and practically invented the expression "Bahala na si Batman", and sana nga, si Batman nalang yung namahala.
But we are not in Gotham City, and we do not have Batman to come and save us every time we shine the Bat Signal towards the night sky.
What happened last August 23 was a real-life nightmare. Yes, it could have ended differently, but it didn't, and there's nothing we can say or nobody we can blame that would undo mistakes. We are not in a movie or a comic book. We do not have the luxury of alternate endings.
What happened on Monday had the makings of a really good movie (or, at the very least, a kick-ass music video):
- Tourists taking their final stroll around the sunny city, flying home at 7:15 that evening;
- Young man just happy to have a job as a tourist bus driver;
- Tour Guide and middle-aged photographers on "another day at the office";
- Everything going as planned until man in a fatigue outfit hails the bus, wanting a free ride;
- Hitchhiker stays a little bit too long for a hitchhiker, finally announces he is taking the bus hostage, posts cryptic messages, releases some kids and elderly people;
- Negotiators walk back and forth, bringing food, gas, news;
- The Ever-Faithful-Brother trying his best to keep hitchhiker turned hostage-taker's wits;
- Impatient pot-bellied policemen just itching to shoot or arrest somebody;
- Situation looks promising: hostage-taker starts to become somehow reasonable;
- Hours later, hostage-taker is informed he can't get what he really wants, kinda loses temper but still seems open for talking;
- Policemen can't take it any longer - finds a scapegoat in the form of the Ever-Faithful-Bro;
- Arresting EFB goes bad, which makes Hostage Taker jump off his rocker, starts shooting;
- Young bus driver miraculously escapes, runs for his life while announcing that all hostages are dead;
- Policemen - low on training, equipment and IQ - start ill-planned assault;
- Gunfire. Rain. Hostage taker is now dead. And so are eight other people.
Now, if the Monday bloodbath was indeed a movie, it could be considered as one that leaves you with this heavy feeling in your chest, like Moulin Rogue or The Hurt Locker. In Filipino colloquial terms, andun na eh, na-udlot pa.
Facebook and the blogosphere were flooded with comments and reactions to the poorly-handled situation. There were those who blamed Mendoza and said "I'm still proud to call myself Pinoy but I'm not proud to call Mendoza Pinoy". (I believe someone has created an FB page with that name already. Oh wow how witty, how very new!) There were those who blamed the media (Imagine hearing the words, "Tangina ka! Tao yan hindi baboy!" over and over again on Primetime. Now that's what I call reality TV.) There were those who blamed the police and came up with various definitions for the acronym S.W.A.T. There were those who blamed the absent president who always has this annoying grin plastered on his face, and believe it or not, there were some who still blamed Gloria for all of this. There were those who simply chose to express their support for Venus Raj and looked at her as the last beacon of hope for this country. Of course, there were some who wrote these uberly-patriotic notes/entries/articles, which I would have done a couple of years ago when I still believed I was an apostle of The Grander Scheme of Things.
In situations like this, it's normal to point fingers. It's not a good thing to do, but that's the normal reaction. I admit to pointing all of my fingers and toes to the Police. As much as I would like to say that everything that happened is just a part of Heaven's grand plans, or that we must look at this as a wake-up call for unity and a better government, and that everyone is to blame or that we should not and must not blame, I simply can't.
(By the way, here is my final list:
3rd Runner-Up: Pres. Benigno Aquino III
2nd Runner-Up: The Mendoza Brother/s
1st Runner-Up: Mendoza himself
Grand Winner: WPD/SWAT)
In the middle of the fiasco I couldn't help but ask "Where is Batman when you need him?" If Batman were there to handle the situation, no one would have died. Not even Mendoza. He would have gotten a broken nose and lost a couple of teeth, but he definitely wouldn't have gotten bullets in his skull. We Pinoys love and practically invented the expression "Bahala na si Batman", and sana nga, si Batman nalang yung namahala.
But we are not in Gotham City, and we do not have Batman to come and save us every time we shine the Bat Signal towards the night sky.
What happened last August 23 was a real-life nightmare. Yes, it could have ended differently, but it didn't, and there's nothing we can say or nobody we can blame that would undo mistakes. We are not in a movie or a comic book. We do not have the luxury of alternate endings.