EDITORIAL - Never again?

It will never happen again. This was the promise given by President Duterte the other day to the people of Hong Kong on the last leg of his trip to China. The President is referring to the bloody hostage crisis in front of the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park on Aug. 23, 2010.

Eight tourists, most of them from Hong Kong, were killed when members of the Manila Police District’s Special Weapons and Tactics team stormed the bus where the hostages were being held by former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza, who was dismissed from the MPD for robbery-extortion. Mendoza was also killed in the SWAT assault, which was such a bungled operation it reportedly became a textbook case in international law enforcement on how NOT to resolve an armed hostage situation.

Following the widespread criticism of the disastrous assault and the overall handling of the hostage situation, including crowd and media control, the Philippine National Police leadership vowed to make all SWAT teams undergo better training. How much has changed since then for the country’s SWAT teams? The answer will determine if President Duterte can make good on his promise to the people of Hong Kong.

If a recent drill is any gauge, the SWAT teams still have a long way to go. The assessment was made by the incoming PNP chief, Director Oscar Albayalde. As commander of the National Capital Region Police Office, Albayalde witnessed this week a drill conducted by the Quezon City Police District on responding to crisis situations including hostage incidents. Albayalde’s verdict: more practice needed.

This is just one police office, with jurisdiction over the biggest city in the country. What is the situation in other police districts? Albayalde said he wanted the PNP Special Action Force to train police units on proper responses to crisis situations. The PNP must do whatever it takes to improve this police capability, whose weakness – as the Manila hostage crisis dramatically showed – can result in a grievous loss of lives.