Police now better equipped vs hostage situations — Palace

Three days before the first anniversary of the Manila hostage tragedy that left eight foreign tourists dead and put to question the Philippine police’s capability to handle hostage situations, Malacañang ensured that something like that will never happen again. On Sunday, deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the police, especially the Special Action Force (SAF), are now better prepared and equipped to handle crisis situations. “Last week, we saw the training and simulation of the SAF. It would be hard for that (Aug. 23 hostage crisis) to happen again. We have taken steps to ensure that their capability and equipment are enough to avoid such things happening again," she said. She added that additional policemen have been fielded in special areas to handle the security and complaints of tourists. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., for his part, said government has formed the Crisis Action Force (CAF) in the aftermath of the hostage incident and has invested P169.9 million to provide the special police unit with new weapons, equipment and vehicles to help it deal with similar situations in the future. Ochoa said the CAF personnel are graduates of specialized training courses. He said SWAT personnel have received additional training courses, while a pool of negotiators that have undergone training here and overseas on hostage and crisis management has been formed. The Philippine National Police (PNP) has also produced three handbooks on hostage crisis management – the Hostage Negotiation Handbook, PNP Critical Incident Management Action Flow Chart and Checklist Handbook, and PNP-National Operations Center Incident Management and Monitoring Handbook – to guide all members of the police force. On Aug. 23 last year, a dismissed policeman, Rolando Mendoza, took a busload of Hong Kong tourists hostage near the historic Quirino Grandstand in Manila. Failed negotiations between Mendoza and the police resulted in the deaths of eight hostages, all at the hands of Mendoza, who was killed by responding policemen. The standoff lasted for 11 hours. The Manila hostage tragedy was considered as the first major crisis that rocked the then barely two-month-old administration of President Benigno Aquino III. On Sunday, Valte said it is not known if President Aquino will have any schedule related to the first anniversary of the tragedy, although Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who headed the fact-finding committee that investigated the incident, is supposed to meet the families of the victims to update them on what the Philippine government has done following the tragedy. This include filing administrative charges against personalities involved in the negotiations. - KBK, GMA News