When A Multi-Awarded Cop Turns From A Protector to A Killer

It was like a scene from a Hollywood movie, but only this time, when the shots were fired, you could not help but scream in horror, knowing fully well that that rain of bullets and tear gas would surely leave a trail of innocent blood, shed because a desperate man decided to make an ultimatum, cowardly using a luckless group of tourists as his card of aces. In a Hollywood movie, the turnout would most likely be for the best - but this is not a Hollywood movie - this is another day in the Philippines.

It's turning out to be a horrifying month for the Philippine National Police (PNP) - starting off with that video of police brutality last week in a precinct in Tondo, followed this week with the dramatic and tragic hostage-taking of 22 tourists in a tour bus by a dismissed yet decorated policeman. Both cases are isolated in nature but may show the current culture that permeates in our police force. If the PNP had a 'corporate culture' it would fail miserably in stress management, as its members seem to fold quite easily when driven to the edge.

The first question that popped into my head when the event was unfolding was, 'Didn't the PNP have the proper channels to address this guy's problems before it came to this?' Of course, at that time, I did not know yet the full story of what drove the fallen policeman to do such a crazy thing. Of course, when the news stories started to come in, I realized this guy just lost everything, and to lose your pension and all your benefits, after serving the force for 28 years, was a compelling reason to drive the poor man to seek desperate measures. Although the accusations made against him were pretty serious (eerily, another case of police brutality), we would never know now if he truly deserved the harsh punishment, since the Ombudsman had acted too late to his appeals to hear his case - and that slow action has led to the death of several HK tourists whose main goal was just to enjoy their last days of summer, but instead, ended in them being used as human shield by a man who had nothing to lose anymore.

Yes, the fallout has started, especially that the hostage taking was monitored live by major news outlets abroad. As to why and how it ended up so badly will surely be fodder for the media and the police force for days to come. And since almost everybody saw it, I'm sure both media and the police handling of the hostage taking will have lots to answer in the coming days.

Now I know why there is an Internal Affairs division in American police forces or why stressed police officers there, have to see a shrink. I don't think we have that system yet, here. A stressed out police officer, whether in or outside the service, is a walking time bomb. These past two weeks have shown that. Last week, the actions of a petty snatcher led that tough policeman to tie the poor guy's dick and use it as some kind of yoyo. This week, when Mendoza felt he ran out of options already, this multi-awarded yet dishonorably dismissed police officer led innocent people to their slaughter.

There should be a system within the PNP, where they could identify police officers who are exhibiting anti-social behavior, and find out why he or she is acting that way, and hopefully, find a remedy to the problem. Whatever is needed - maybe a short vacation from service or professional psychological help - should be in place, to ensure that our own policeman have not turned psychos! If the police officer who is supposed to protect us from harm, turns against us, then it's time that we take a look and find out why they are acting that way.