Painful to Watch Barbecue On TV

Senators grilling policemen, <-- too painful to watch, the flavor of barbecue malingers. But this is the kind of TV drama that needs to be drilled into the psyche of people. Understand that there is so much to be fixed in this broken government, make the government accountable to fix it.

These policemen had an opportunity to be great, but instead, here they are, drowning in a sea of systemic, protocol failure. Not enough gas masks, not enough training, bad judgement calls, uncontrolled media men, buying jollibee for generals. Even Gen. Magtibay seems dazed and confused. Men in uniform with grand titles as Senior Inspector, Chief Negotiator, Captain, etc, all flow down the drain simply because of systemic, protocol failure. Where did the millions for appropriate equipment and training go? To their fat bellies I presume.

Sadly, tourists are now even more scared to venture into this country. How can the tourists, whether Chinese nationals or otherwise, possibly enjoy a weekend here in Manila if the threat of being killed mercilessly on the streets is a possibility? No wonder they were quick to call discouragement to travel to the Philippines. I like travelling alone, going to a country where I feel safe in, and according to my standards this country, sadly my own home country isn't one country I'd travel to alone. Think about it? Rogue policemen can't even be controlled by their own, what more the real hardcore terrorists? I'm a local, and I'm scared. Who do I then trust for this country's security?

They need to fix the system from the inside, and in this case, a certain hostage taker Mendoza lit the timebomb. There is EPIC failure in the systems that the government has in place. It failed for Mendoza and his lack of grievance box, it failed for the Chinese nationals who died on vacation, it failed for the foot soldiers who knew nothing better, it failed for the media men who were unlikely accomplices for this mess, it failed for the generals who just want a nice fat retirement. EPIC failure. No one person can take the blame for all of this mess simply because the failure is thickly ingrained into the roots that the government stands on. Awful.