Government improves crisis situation management
August 22, 2011
MALACAÑANG on Sunday said Philippine authorities have undertaken major institutional reforms to strengthen the capability of the police and avoid a repeat of the bungled hostage crisis at the Quirino Grandstand in August 2010.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa said the reforms were part of the recommendations of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC), which looked into the handling of the rescue operation during the hostage taking incident on August 23 last year.
“We have undertaken reforms that focus on improving the capability of the PNP (Philippine National Police) to respond to crisis situations. We recently activated the SAF (Special Action Force), whose personnel are all graduates of specialized training courses,” Ochoa said.
Several survivors of the Manila hostage crisis are expected to arrive in the country Sunday to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the hostage crisis.
Mass will also be held to mark the crisis that strained the Philippine’s relations with the People’s Republic of China.
Eight tourists from Hong Kong were killed when dismissed police officer Rolando Mendoza took hostage a bus full of tourists at the Quirino grandstand near the Luneta Park.
After hours of standoff, other passengers of the bus were saved while Mendoza was killed.
President Benigno Aquino III earlier denied the appeal of the survivors to meet with him.
The survivors were demanding for compensation and apology from the Philippine government. They also criticized the government for supposedly not doing anything to reform the country’s security system.
According to Ochoa, the 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.
He said all personnel of the PNP’s Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) had received additional training courses, while a pool of negotiators that had undergone training here and overseas on hostage situation and crisis management has already been identified.
The PNP, according to Ochoa, 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.
Other recommendations of the IIRC, which have been addressed, are the imposition of penalties and the filing of appropriate charges against officials it found liable for mishandling the hostage-taking incident.
Ochoa said the Office of the President had referred the cases of these officials to the appropriate agencies like the National Police Commission and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte supported the statement of Ochoa saying that the government has already taken steps to improve the security capabilities.
“Noon pong nakaraang linggo, naipakita po ‘yung training, ‘yung simulation po ng special action forces, at makikita naman po natin na talagang nagkaroon naman po ng improvement and that we are doing what we can to move on from the incident,” she said.
She added that police forces are also installed in tourism areas to secure the safety of tourists.
Malacañang has yet to tell if President Aquino has a schedule related to the hostage crisis commemoration on Tuesday.
For the part of the police, PNP spokesperson Agrimero Cruz earlier said that the PNP has learned its lesson.
He said the PNP upgraded its equipment, training and enhanced its capabilities.
He also said that about 245 Swat personnel from various regions have undergone refresher training courses to improve their skills.
The PNP also conducted dialogues with various media organizations for the handling of coverage of crisis situations, he added. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/08/21/government-improves-crisis-situation-management-174463
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