This was emailed to me by a veteran security consultant friend of mine who also happens to be a SWAT instructor. (name withheld upon request)
1. Police should have initially cordoned off the area as far away as possible to prevent any onlookers and media from covering the incident up close. Roads going to the Qurino grandstand should have been blocked off from Roxas Blvd. The whole area of the Luneta Park itself should have been cleared of people to include closing off and preventing anyone from passing thru Manila Hotel and the restaurants at the rear of the US Embassy. This way the bus is isolated from public view and in the event that the suspect starts shooting out, no by-stander would be hurt.
2. After initial contact by the negotiator with the suspect and passing him a “throw phone” in the bus, a cellular phone jammer should have been applied in the direct area of the bus to provide a protective bubble to prevent any use of cellular devices in and out of the bus, thus forcing the suspect to utilize the “throw phone”, this way, the device (throw phone) could also act as a passive listening device for intelligence gathering purposes. A TV and radio jammer would have also been useful.
3. The MPD should have been replaced by another agency or department to prevent any possibility of “conflict of interest” issues since the suspect came from their own department. Plus on an officer safety stand point, the people directly involved might know the suspect personally and cause hesitation in neutralizing the person if an opportunity presented itself.
4. Relatives should have been analyzed and interviewed first before deciding to let them communicate directly with the suspect. They may turn out to be a liability like the brother who wanted his service firearm to be returned to him as part of the demands of the suspect.
5. The authorities should have studied or at least contacted someone who was knowledgeable in accessing the bus in case the emergency arises. There are override switches to facilitate the opening of the pneumatic door as well as accessing the emergency hatch at the rear.
6. SWAT or the designated breaching team should have had a clear cut plan on how to breach and take down the vehicle once negotiations bogged down.
7. A portable thermal imager and night vision device would have been advantageous for gathering additional information such as pinpointing the locations of the hostages and suspect. It would have also helped confirm if the hostages were still alive which again would have dictated how the situation would be handled.
8. The entry teams should have had tactical mirrors and flashlights plus ballistic vests, at least level 3 with ceramic plates to defeat the rifle round that may come from the suspect’s firearm.
9. Firearms should have had tactical lights.
10. The driver should have been isolated from the media and debriefed immediately for intelligence purposes pertinent to the assault.
11. Entry team should have been equipped with gasmasks, flash-bang grenades and breaching tools such as battering rams, hooligan tools and pneumatic rescue-type equipment.
12. Initially equipping covertly the negotiators with less than lethal weapons like a Tazer could have been another possible option.
13. MPD should have asked for assistance from other agencies to complement their own resources with experienced personnel, equipment and information which could have proven valuable to the success of the crisis.
14. Lastly, even if the suspect from the very start seemed to cooperate, always expect the worst to happen and be prepared to intervene if the need arises. Planning is the key to success.
General Analysis:
If from the very start, the bus was isolated from media and the public and then jammers were appropriately deployed and no outside communication (meaning cellular phone / TV / Radio) other than that of the negotiator was permitted, the incident might have been contained and the situation would have not escalated.
Well, maybe if the PNP top brass spent the budget to properly train and equip their personnel instead of converting it to Euros and going shopping abroad maybe this tragic incident would have had a different ending.
What really perplexes me is that a of this tactical information is readily available on the internet FOR FREE and yet our law enforcement does not utilize such information. With the multitude of FREE information on gun and tactical web sites, discussion forums, training videos, media, blogs, and firearms and SWAT magazines, it is rather surprising that the Philippine police still insist on being IGNORANT of the latest developments in the field. In this age of information IGNORANCE is no longer preordained; it is CHOICE. Information and education on the information superhighway is FREE AND AVAILABLE TO ALL. Consequently, today if you are ignorant, it is because YOU CHOOSE TO BE SO.
What was really lacking in the hostage incident was COMMON SENSE. Even a boy scout troop could have performed better. A basic SWAT principle is KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. The more complicated things get, the more prone to mistakes.
The other half of the problem is lack of equipment of the PNP, which is another issue in itself entirely.
Well, at this point, I only have one question left; why hasn’t the chief PNP been sacked? As head of the PNP, he should take the blame on this one, he should resign or be sacked; common decency and delicadeza dictates it. If he refuses to fall on his sword (kapal mukha eh), then the president should be the one to shove that sword for him, in him, and through him. Bilib talaga ako sa kakapalan ng mukha niya, talagang WALANG HIYA AT WALANG HONOR! To let his subordinates take the fall for his incomepetence and personal shortcomings is such a despicable act. One cannot enjoy the power and perks of one’s office during good times and totally disassociate one’s self from the responsibility of that office when things go bad. Bottomline, the president should tell him to step into his office and say “YOU’RE FIRED!”. Believe me, he will not be a great loss to the PNP.
Head of PAGASA was fired for giving inaccurate reports on Basyang. The Luneta fiasco is a bigger case of incompetence.
At about early 1994 there was a failed kidnap for ransom incident in Batangas. As the kidnappers were travelling North from Batangas City with their victim, they passed Lipa City where a bulletin was relayed to the PNP detachment there to intercept the kidnappers. Instead of intercepting the kidnappers, the police set up a roadblock and sprayed the entire vehicle and highway with bullets killing the kidnappers, as well as the kidnap victims and a number of innocent travellers.
Then President Fidel Ramos immediately sacked Gen. Recaredo Sarmiento who was then the Chief PNP. As a former General and Chief PC-INP himself, President Ramos understood well the issue of COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY. Our soldiers and police do not act on their own. They act upon ORDERS and UNDER SUPERVISION of their Superior officers. If the officers commit errors it is because of erroneous orders or supervision from their superiors.
The Quirino Grandstand incident is a lot worse incident, with much more negligence so as to qualify the acts committed as CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE. The heirs of those who were killed should file criminal cases against the ground commander and Verzosa.
I concur with the call that Chief PNP Jesus Verzosa should resign or be relieved.
KISS = keep it simple stupid
is it really a swat principle or a navy seal principle? I believe its DEVGRU or seal team 6
I was just wondering if he is a swat instructor here in the Philippines, or have been part of any PNP swat teams because if he is, then he should have known in the first place that most of the devices that he is saying IS NOT AVAILABLE TO PNP SWAT TEAMS, he must be dreaming when he said the PNP should have used signal jammers (for TV, Radio and cellphone), thermal imaging systems, tazer guns, etc. why? because the PNP SWAT DOES NOT HAVE ANY SUCH DEVICES..the things he pointed out are correct however it does not apply to Philippine setting first, because as I have said the PNP SWAT dont have this things; secondly, in my own honest opinion he is not a swat instructor here in the Philippines HE MAYBE an instructor in other countries but certainly not in the Philippines, why? because if he is, he must’ve been aware of the present predicament of pinoy swat teams that most of the time they have to shoulder the expenses of purchasing their own ammunition for practices, he things he pointed out are learned mostly from textbook theories and is available to everyone (bookstores, internet, etc). I am not doubting the credibility of that person because as i see it he is very knowledgeable, but as to where he really employs his expertise and knowledge of the situation of PNP swats……. i dont think so