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Bacolod City, Philippines Friday, March 30, 2007
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Editorial

Hostage-taking
and finger-pointing

Daily Star logo
Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.
NINFA R. LEONARDIA
Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ
Editor

GUILLERMO TEJIDA III
Desk Editor
NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER
Busines Editor

CEDELF P. TUPAS

Sports Editor (On Leave)
RENE GENOVE
Bureau Chief, Dumaguete
MAJA P. DELY
Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA
Administrative Officer

It's all hindsight now, of course, but now that the suspense is over, isn't it hilarious the way some of our officials and even our police are behaving? A do-gooder with apparently a warped idea of how he could pursue his dream of ensuring education for the children in his district, thinks up a scheme of taking as hostage the very children whose future is supposed to be securing.

The man called Armando "Jun" Ducat had been known as a friend of the poor, and a strong advocate of education for the underprivileged members of society, especially the children.

That was the reason why he had put up the day care center in the area called Tondo, known to be the place where many of Manila's poor families have resided for generations. And, from all accounts given after Monday's incident, his generosity was being appreciated by the beneficiaries who could not have afforded to provide such care and training for their children.

Who knows what must have been in the mind of Jun Ducat when he planned and executed the hostaging of those 32 little children, most or all of them of kindergarten age? One can conclude that he did not mean them harm, since he even made provisions for their food and entertainment.

The duration of the stand-off was quite long, but thank God, nothing untoward happened. The children were later released, seeming none the worse for the experience. And Ducat is being made to account for his act that had terrified so many parents who could not be sure of how the drama would turn out.

What seems laughable now is the way officials are blaming each other for the manner in which the hostage-taking incident was handled. Now everybody seems to be an expert at it, although they had all the time - ten hours, no less - to show their expertise then. Everybody is being blamed, the police, the politicians who had to get into the act, the crowds that could not be contained, and even the media covering the incident.

What the ordinary citizen wants to know is only whether such expertise will be applied in case of a similar event.*

 
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