NO, THIS isn?t Monday morning quarterbacking that second-guesses the judgment of those who put their lives on the line. Yes, they were bungling and amateurish. But Pyrrhic valor shouldn?t disqualify you from martyrdom, only from heroism. The mistakes I focus on are not the quarterback?s but the team?s handlers??the coach?s, the team manager?s or the team owner?s. I speak of those who were far away from the shooting, especially what they did after the smoke had cleared and it was clear we had blundered.
It all reminds me of the death of Flor Contemplacion, the Filipina maid in Singapore who was hanged for murder in 1995 and whose execution galvanized the frustration of the entire OFW community over the government?s flaccid succor for the vulnerable saviors of our country?s economy. Until that moment, the government had thought that Flor was just another problem that would ?go away.? After Flor?s execution, what was supposed to have been a minor hiccup had become a full-blown diplomatic crisis. President Fidel V. Ramos recalled our ambassador from Singapore, Singaporean women and children were evacuated from Manila, the two countries suspended bilateral exchanges (including a joint military exercise) and almost suspended diplomatic ties. By the end of that episode, heads rolled in the Ramos Cabinet, that of the secretaries of labor (Nieves Confesor) and of foreign affairs (Roberto Romulo).
The botched Luneta rescue is shaping up to be President Benigno Aquino III?s Flor Contemplacion. It was a local police operation that tardily grew into an international incident.
First, early on we should have characterized the hostage situation as a humanitarian crisis. We should have focused less on how it will affect our tourist industry, or how it would dampen investor confidence. We should have focused on who were the hostages and asked: How many were being held? What were their nationalities? How old were they? How many families were inside the bus? I imagine both government and TV can find ways to use that information without compromising their comfort and survival. People?s lives were hanging on the line, and we were blabbering literally about the bottom-line.
It betrayed a utilitarianism oblivious to the fundamental principle that life is an end in itself. Stated bluntly, we appeared to value our tourists for their dollar value, not as fellow human beings vacationing in our land to create joyful memories with family and friends. For showcasing to the world the uncaring and pragmatic side of the Pinoy, I hold both government and media responsible.
Second, we should have sooner recognized the hostage situation as a potential international crisis. If by late afternoon the Luneta standoff was already covered live by CNN and BBC, I am perplexed why the President couldn?t take a phone call from Hong Kong?s Chief Executive Donald Tsang. I can imagine many reasons to duck the call, chief among them the need to calibrate our response, but speak we must rather than evade, elude and delay. Journalist Ellen Tordesillas, in the VERA Files website, reported that Tsang had been trying to contact Aquino since 4 p.m. of Monday. P-Noy was then monitoring the hostage situation and had told his staff that he didn?t want to be disturbed. When Tsang called, the staff member who took the call didn?t recognize who he was and didn?t pass it on to P-Noy. The Palace?s explanations are not assuring at all.
Third, we should attune ourselves to the cultural and political sensitivities. As late as Wednesday, we found ourselves apologizing for miscues that happened after the incident was over. P-Noy had to say sorry for smiling during his inspection of the bus. That would have been perfectly understandable in a purely Filipino context, and his explanation would have been completely acceptable, i.e., that we smile to deal with awkward situations. But across cultures, we run the risk of being misunderstood.
What takes the cake are those photos of our own policemen and women who had their souvenir shots taken while posing in front of the scene of death. For this, I find no explanation except sheer callousness and unprofessionalism.
What makes it even more sensitive is that there are 130,000 Filipinos working as domestic helpers in Hong Kong. It was only after the tragedy that we gave the Luneta hostage-taking its due place. P-Noy declared Wednesday a ?National Day of Mourning,? we flew our flags at half-staff, and he finally called Donald Tsang. He will also send a high-powered delegation led by Vice President Jejomar Binay to Beijing and Hong Kong.
The whole episode should actually make the United States doubt our value as an ally in their war on terror. If we can?t handle a solitary policeman dismissed from the police force for framing up a hotel chef for drugs, how can we deal with terrorists whose fanaticism is matched by their fancy technology and global network?
The rank-and-file who put themselves in the line of fire can still draw solace from the famous quote from Franklin Delano Roosevelt: ?The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly ?.? This may seem too romanticized a tribute given the bloopers we saw on TV, but they certainly have a greater claim to FDR?s homage than their higher-ups, military and civilian, who cannot by any measure claim to have dared greatly.
