Tag: hostage-taking

breaking news, Criminal law, media law, News, The News Media

Hostage-taking in Manila

Hostage-taking in Manila

i know the police know the protocol in hostage-taking situations. This protocol- playbook is uniform and internationally practised/ recognized; and so, i never Monday- quarterback hostage-taking situations. (when the hostage-taker started shooting inside the bus, the breach, by protocol, was necessary; on the other hand, the daytime early negotiations done by the book, resulting in the release of more than half-a-dozen hostages, to the credit of the local officials, went well; this however leaves us with the 7:20pm spectacle, which resulted in disaster, leaving eight hostages dead). Since the 7:20pm fiasco involved media facilities, maybe i’m allowed to Monday- quarterback that.

The police did not manage the hostage-taker’s access to media facilities; nor to who else was communicating with him from the outside. At worst, the police did not know the hostage-taker had access to television and what kind of media/ communication facilities the bus had.

Because of the mismanagement of the hostage-taker’s access to media facilities and various communication lines and to the media, the hostage-taker viewed the spectacle of his brother, and young nephews and nieces, on the floor, being roughed up by the police in television news blow-by-blow; was enraged, and started shooting. The usual practice is that individuals who are allowed to talk to the hostage-taker are also secured, and their media-interviews, managed. These went south today.

i will not Monday- quarterback the warrantless arrest of the brother even if that involved legal issues because this was a hostage-taking situation maybe he had to be restrained because earlier he reportedly further inflamed his brother- hostage-taker when he allegedly told his brother- hostage-taker “don’t give up until they return my gun to me”; the situation became more volatile when the grappling and scuffle occurred, because the hostage-taker could see it in full, living color on TV. (for that matter, the so-called “arrest” was such a show of bruteness it shouldn’t have been done in such manner but i’m trying not to second-guess that at this time because the hostages’ lives were on the line).

Even with the tried-and-tested hostage-taking protocol-playbook, the police might have missed out on something. Teeny-weeny. The terrain. The terrain is not just Quirino grandstand. It’s the bus. They didn’t research it; what facilities it had inside and outside.They also didn’t manage who else and how many were talking to him from the outside. (okay, i limited myself to media facilities; this incident has a whole a lot of legal and ethical issues — maybe another day.)

Armed conflict, Criminal law, The News Media

To the Crisis Management Committee (re. Ces Oreña-Drilon & team in Sulu) : All troop movements should be under your command. Anticipate info, disinformation.

Photo  by Jack Fellows. Too Close for Comfort. Used here for  educational, non-commercial purposes, thru the free service by blog-use of image provided by and from www.allposters.com .

       This came out in thousands of copies in a broadsheet. It’s too late. Let’s hope it can be prevented from happening again. We all know what a drone is —  an unmanned aircraft guided by remote control; we all know that the U.S. military uses drones to take aerial photos in war-torn areas; we all know that there are American soldiers in Mindanao apparently not conducting drills but actual operations;  there are plenty of days to discuss all the criminal provisions violated by the captors of Ces Oreña-Drilon and her team, the Revised Penal Code, special laws, books, volumes, a library, truckload;   plenty of days to discuss treaties  and constitutional provisions violated by foreign military  operations without treaties; plenty of days for that, those can wait; until the ABS-CBN news team and the prof are safe back home. To the Crisis Management Committee: Does it have to be spelled it out? I know that you cannot vet the media but you can at least hold twice a day briefings in order to contextualize all pieces of information that are coming out and  to anticipate disinformation.

 

      This is the kind of information, whether true or not, whether verified or not, that would cause communication lines to be cut off. While ARMM Police Supt. Goltiao had denied in a morning interview with Vice President Noli de Castro over DZMM that communication lines had been cut off; “emissary”  Sulu Mayor Isnaji Alvarez had earlier “disclosed” (see broadsheets)  that he had not been able to contact the cellphones, do you wonder now why?

 

        Cellphones.

 

     A Manila Times correspondent reported (it’s too late now, it’s been published in thousands of copies, this  small  blog is so puny that  i can quote it):

 

     Quote “Although the Abu Sayyaf cut off the communication lines, the US military continued to assist local authorities in tracking down the hostages and their captors. American soldiers helping Filipino security forces fight terrorism were said to be using electronic surveillance and unmanned aerial vehicles to trace the location of the hostages.” Closed-quote.

 

     In the first place, if true, all troop movements, if any,  should be under the command of the crisis committee. In the second place, all information on troop movements, if any,  should be under the control of the crisis committee.  In the third place, the crisis committee should anticipate all kinds of information or disinformation going around.

 

       (i know…our friends in the media will say that there is some good to reporting it because at least the crisis committee would know what it doesn’t know; i just hope we are conscious of the possible cost.)

 

 

     And to the correspondent/ reporter: PLEASE PO, KAPAG  TROOP  MOVEMENTS  AT  SURVEILLANCE,  AT MAY HOSTAGES, MAG-IINGAT  TAYO SA PAGRI-REPORT, KAHIT  SA  ESKWELAHAN  TINUTURO  YAN, DIYOS KO. BAKA PWEDENG I-EMBARGO MUNA NATIN NG ILANG ARAW, KAHIT ILANG ARAW LANG,  LALO NA KUNG HINDI FIRST-HAND,  YUNG MGA GANUONG IMPORMASYON AT  I-REPORT NATIN KAPAG LIGTAS  NA  PARA  MAIMBESTIGA  NANG MABUTI. (ayan na, naiinis na naman ako, sorry po, i should probably be more detached and ignore all these, there’s nothing  i can do.)   

 

(i have plenty of days to discuss the criminal provisions,  the constitutional provisions violated;  i know, we should document all these  and not forget to investigate, after the news team is safe back home ).

 

     Ang kulit ko: To the crisis committee: all troop movements in the area while the crisis is on-going should be under your command. All kinds of disinformation should be anticipated.

 

Criminal law

Hostage-taking on a bus

Photo by Peter Hendrie, Lonely Planet Collection. Bus on Country Road Samoa. Used here for  educational, non-commercial purposes, free service by blog-use of image provided by and from www.allposters.com  Lonely Planet Collection.

     He was a hostage-taker who had no demands. He did not ask for money, he did not ask for freedom, he did not ask  for better living conditions, he did not ask to see anyone. Rey Digo took the  a Bataan-bound bus yesterday armed with a handgun, took out his gun and, according to the police, started firing randomly. The police said he had killed one passenger and wounded another. After five hours of negotiations, the police said there was a “grappling for the gun”, a shot rang and the hostage-taker was dead. Police later said they decided to end it because it was getting dark and  “the situation was getting  more dangerous”.  

     Had he lived, the paperwork  typed up against him would be  for “serious illegal detention”, a capital offense, and murder or homicide depending on the circumstances. Depriving a woman, a child, or a public officer, of  her/ his/her liberty, even for just a few hours or an hour or moments, constitutes the following crime:

     “Revised Penal Code. Art. 267. Kidnapping and serious illegal detention. – Any private individual who shall kidnap or detain another or in any manner deprive him of his liberty shall suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua  to death:

      1.If the kidnapping or detention shall have lasted more than five days.

      2.If it shall have been committed simulating public authority.

      3. If any serious physical injuries shall have been inflicted upon the person kidnapped or detained; or if threats to kill him shall have been made.

     4.If the person kidnapped shall be a minor, female, or public officer.

      The penalty shall be death where the kidnapping or detention was committed for the purpose of extorting ransom from the victim or any other person, even if none of the circumstances abovementioned were present in the commission of the offense.”

    Justice Ramon Aquino, “The Revised Penal Code”: quote “Republic Act No. 18 passed in 1946 amended Art. 267 by reducing the minimum detention to five days and including the detention of a minor, a female person, and a public  officer among the forms of serious illegal detention. The purpose was to check the rampant kidnappings of children, women, and public officials after the war. XXXX”

   Whether the amount of force used by the police  was commensurate to the danger the suspect posed and the objective of saving lives and bringing the suspect to justice, depends on the  truth of the statements from the police: the firearm, the shooting, the grappling.