Recently in the Philippines, a terrible disaster was watched by hundreds of shocked Hong Kong people. It is outrageous that people should watch a disaster like this unfold, helpless as they watched their loved ones shot carelessly by the Philippine police.
One of the most shocking things was the presidents review on this tragedy. He stated that "Why should we put our last option as our first" (last option indicating the disposal of the gunman, Rolando Mendoza, by snipers positioned around the bus). This basically means that the president was hesitant about shooting Rolando in fear that the police may have killed one of the tourists. Of course, when the gunman was in plain sight, snipers should have taken the shot and ended the situation. Instead, they spent ours trying to nudge open the front door of the bus, which was reinforced by a hydraulic lock Rolando had placed there.
The police also obviously lacked proper training. People don't walk up to a gunman with pistols stuck against their foreheads, you're supposed to aim down the sights! Another thing, it is impossible to open a door reinforced by a hydraulic lock by nudging it with a riot shield. Breaking down the glass of the door does not help, especially if it alerts the gunman, and if it's too small for somebody to get through.
Another strange thing was, why did a Chinese organization in Philippine, not the government, organize a memorial for the victims of this tragedy? Why was there no apparent government support? It even seemed that the president was smiling while he talked about these victims!
8 people have died so far, and the survivors are going to be suffering from acute trauma for a long time to come. I hope that the filipino government realizes it's inadequacies, and gives adequate compensation to the survivors.
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