MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine Army reservist on Tuesday said negotiators should refrain from bringing a relative to a hostage scene since it causes confusion.
Colonel Marcelo Javier is an Army reservist who was trained by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in negotiation tactics. He gave several pointers on hostage negotiations in a press conference in Anabel's Restaurant on Tuesday.
Javier refrained from commenting on the hostage crisis last August 23, preferring instead to provide general pointers on hostage negotiations.
He said bringing a relative or a loved one to the scene “causes confusion.”
A negotiator would be risking operations since the situation between the hostage-taker and his or her relative would be unclear up to that point.
In fact, he said the presence of the relative could add pressure to the hostage-taker.“Baka awayin pa siya ng relative, bakit ka nandyan? Umalis ka diyan, etc…”
A discharged police officer, Rolando Mendoza, took hostage several tourists inside a bus more than a week ago. After the 12-hour ordeal, 8 Hong Kong tourists and the gunman himself died.
The hostage-taker’s brother, SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza, was in the area at that time supposedly to help in the negotiations.
Later in the day however, he was apprehended by police allegedly due to conspiracy. This supposedly peeved Rolando, pushing him to open fire.
Negotiator should establish relationship
Javier said 1 negotiator should be talking to the hostage-taker.“The negotiator will establish a relationship with the hostage-taker. Build a relationship of trust,” he said.
He said the hostage-taker’s demands should be followed since “they are just demands.” The negotiator should still make sure, however, that he has the upper hand.
He said all discussions should also be recorded.
Negotiators should also contain the situation and disallow anyone from entering the hostage scene, he said.
Thus, members of the media, or any civilian for that matter, should not be involved in the negotiations unless he or she is trained or given the go-signal by the main negotiator.
He said the coverage should not be shown or presented live. Scenes could be shown delayed or after the resolution of the crisis.
Crisis management exercises
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) started Tuesday a series of crisis management exercises to correct errors committed by the police during the August 23 incident.
The exercises would run for 4 days.
Police Senior Superintendent Benjamin Magalong admitted there were lapses on the part of the police, most importantly the lack of preparedness of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.
Specifically, he said there was a blunder in controlling the authorities, the civilians and the members of the media.
He said the command post need not be so far away from the perimeter.
Media should have been placed outside of the outer circle so that authorities can freely move at the center of the incident, he said.
Magalong added the police should be able to identify and classify a hostage-taker.
He considers Mendoza a “pseudo hostage-taker,” one who is emotional and requires a more toned approach.
Philippine Psychiatric Association’s Gani Gonzales, on the other hand, noted Mendoza was ready to die. Gonzales is also outpatient neuro-pyschiatric screening chief of the National Center for Mental Health.
“If it’s a planned hostage, most probably you’re ready to die, unlike kapag accidental,” he said. – with reports from Niña Corpuz and Zen Hernandez
