Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Should Pnoy Be Blamed From the Hostage Drama?

You can see it in the news, you can see it in the forums, you can read it in the newspapers, and even in social networking sites. People are criticizing President Noynoy Aquino to what happened during the hostage drama crisis.

People hated him of not doing his job, of being in the Emerald restaurant, and even of smiling in the camera in an interview.

People even say that “he is only good of blaming others.”



In an article in FTP, there was a comment posted by “The Rippler” that urged me to write this post in an answer to what he said and what he wants.

He commented:

Does he have the slightest idea how this fiasco has unfolded? An event like this is not something one can just forget and throw away in the garbage or keep in the closet. The repercussions of the obvious display of incompetence of the SWAT team and the bout of suicidal insanity of an ‘ex-cop’ will remain in the minds of not just the common folk, but of Hong Kong citizens.
***
Whatever conclusions the report may arrive at, what has transpired on that fated day will remain etched forever in the psyche of the people involved and the two nations. And no, professionalism does not call for excuse, and such is the responsibility of someone who has taken the presidential seat.
***
Brace yourselves for the arduous quest for redemption of the Filipino face. The fat lady is yet to sing, and we better face the music.
…and I would like to cite as well the stupidity and the sheer lack of discretion of the Pinoy to pose for pictures with the bus in the background just for keeps (and for Facebook photos), while the whole Hong Kong mourns. Shame on us indeed.

To answer this, first, I must say LOUD and CLEAR that I am not a Pnoy Fan, and I did not voted for him.

BUT... I think he should be given a fair judgment on what happened.

Should the president be the following?

  • Should he really become the negotiator in every hostage crisis or any other kidnapping incidents?
  • Should he really become the assault team?
  • Should he really become the receptionist to answer phone calls?
  • Should he really become the spokesperson all the time?
  • Should he really become the head of paramedics?
  • Should he really become the head of crowd control?

The comments that I have read in FTP against Pnoy are mostly unintelligent accussations. Most (not all) comments are without and deep thinking of what is the real job of the president.

Hostage crisis happens, so as bus incidents, kidnapping, snatching, and bombing. The only job of the president when these things happen is to command “AFTER” he knows it. Meaning, there should be someone to tell him what just happened and whether or not it will affect the reputation of the nation.

He is running the whole nation and definitely he can't do everything. That's why he has cabinet members, secretaries, generals etc.

Here is a fair comment from eboksulit that I believe we need to think about:

Ano ba talaga mali ni Pnoy? Ang hindi pag sagot sa tawag na di talaga nakarating sa kanya? Ang kapalpakan ng assault team? Ang hindi pag dala ng mga gamit ng assault team tulad ng gas mask?
Satsat ka ng satsat di ka naman nagiisip ng tama.
Bakit di ikaw ang pumunta sa mga pulis o nagtext sa kanila during the situation to remind them to bring their gas mask?
I’m sure you’ll say, “Di ko trabaho yon.”
Of course its not your job to do that right? At hindi rin trabaho ni Pnoy yon.
Ikaw ba nakahawak ka na ba ng mga tao o nang isang organization? Ha??? (ako by the way ay head ng isang organization)
Kaya may mga nakatalagang mga taong dapat magtrabaho para gawin ang trabaho to work harmoniously with other jobs. Ang napaka unfortunate lang na nangyari, hindi nagjive lahat ng mga trabaho ng buong pwersa sa crisis.
The president was there in the command center (Emerald restaurant) hindi para kumain…
Tumawag si Tsang, di naman ibinigay sa kanya. And you still blame the president for not answering?
Nagutos ang presidente na tutukan at resolbahin ang incident. Ang mga mokong na pulis, inaresto at halos saktan ang kapatid ng hostage taker kahit na alam nilang posibleng nanonood ang hostage taker. Si Pnoy pa rin sinisisi mo???
Nagkaroon ng assault, palpak, nakalimutan ang mga gamit tulad ng gas mask at battering ram, si Pnoy pa rin sinisisi mo?
Nagkagulo ang media… 200 daang pulis ang nandoon… pero walang nag manage ng crowd. Kasalanan ni Pnoy???
Gusto mo pa isa isahin ko sayo? Parang eto gusto mong mangyari at ng ibang mga kumento dito na anti Pnoy…
Kelangan si Pnoy maging:
Head ng hostage taking… kahit may negotiator at kahit may head ng mga pulis.
Head ng reception area… para siguradong matanggap ang tawag kahit may secretary.
Head ng assualt team… kahit meron ng SWAT.
Head ng search and rescue team… kahit merong mga ambulansya.
Head ng crowd control…. kahit 200 pulis na ang nakapaligid.
Ano pa gusto nyong ipagawa kay Pnoy????????

Some people say, Pnoy is only good at blaming others. Well, he may probably have the attitude of blaming others, but many of what he said so far are true.

Just last night, I was watching the news about the salaries of MWSS employees. I was shocked upon knowing that they have received a bonus more than their salaries for two years.

I was shocked upon knowing that their officials are receiving worth a million pesos of salary every year. While many people are hungry, many government officials are receiving so much from what they do.

Another example is the budget of the government. Wasn't it true that the previous administration spent more than what should be spent so that the next government will have some sort of funds? President Noynoy chose to live a far simpler life than the previous president.

And though I did not voted for him, I can see that he is still a far better president than the previous 2 administrations.

In the end, I think that we should not be giving him the blame for the incompetence of his subordinates.

5 comments:

Chino F September 1, 2010 at 6:18 AM  

"I can see that he is still a far better president than the previous 2 administrations."

I see it the opposite way. He bungles a lot and broke a lot of promises from his campaign. He is most likely being directed by his family and the three-headed monster without a will of his own. PNoy might as well be "Puppet Noy."

"In the end, I think that we should not be giving him the blame for the incompetence of his subordinates."

He should still be held responsible for contributing to the confused chain of command that contributed to the incompetence you mentioned. He put his subordinates there (because they helped put him where he is now). And he was not on top of the scene when he should. He still shares part of the blame.

Anonymous,  September 1, 2010 at 4:31 PM  

Hmmm... I think we really cannot expect that all promises will be fulfilled within 2 months time.

And until now, even the experts and other professional says he cannot be blamed for this (where I also stand).

He did his job, but his people did not executed it properly.

Anonymous,  September 1, 2010 at 7:47 PM  

technically, this is a police matter. but this was no ordinary situation:

1. foreign nationals were concern;
2. we have a close relationship with this country because of our OFWs;
3. we're being monitored around the world.

plus the fact that what had transpired since the beginning was a recipe for a fiasco!

with this in mind, he (PNoy) should have made sure that he is on top of the situation!

just my 0.000002

Anonymous,  September 1, 2010 at 10:13 PM  

LOL! Funny you just wan't to see deep thinking but not the BIG PICTURE.

Ok, did you guys know how many hours until the hostage taking ended? Its just ahmmm, 12HRS!!! It's ok not to blame the president if its just only an hour or upto 6hrs, at least on the 6th hour he should at least know the situation.

What we lost here is REPUTATION, DIGNITY, TRUST from other countries and a lot of MONEY that should enter in our country.

The President should ACT as Leader(it should be) when no one wants to.

Now you tell me why we shouldn't blame the president?

Anonymous,  September 2, 2010 at 12:45 AM  

For one thing, De Lima put a gag on the investigators of the incident. That runs opposite to how it is done in the more professional manner; put the gag during the incident, not after. The investigation results should not be gagged. The gag is a strong sign of a whitewash. The gag order also runs completely opposite to the promise of transparency, and thus the promise is broken.

Also, if his people did not execute it properly, he is still responsible because his people reflects his leadership. If their tasks were done poorly and sloppily, then his leadership is poor and sloppy. He still shares responsibility for the botched handling of the incident.

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