Philippine Hostage Crisis--If you are the negotiator, what could you have done?

The best ways is the china method of negiotationg with hostake taker which is bulllet to the head in close range.I think they are no properlly train like for example using hammer to hit the window and such.They should have done more research that the window is shatter proof. From all the hollywood movies, should isolate the hijacker and over power him or shot him. He is not carrying explosion or rig the bus it should be a straighforward grab capture or shot the guy.

well for me I would make the hostage taker feel safe and calm which I think the negotiator failed to do. I would make him feel that I am on his side and make him see that I understand what is happening to him. I should never do something that might make him think that you are threatening him. always tell him that we could discuss this And always say that everything is going to work out fine.

well you cant really do anything if you dont have a good team backing you up.

NO MEDIA or SPECTATOR one kilometer from the Hostage scene. and hard on crowd control as well. which was teh root problem of the crisis.

hi Iptan, i think the hostage situation can be better handled. I feel that the disgruntled gunsman is quite agitated and the negotiator needs to give in quite abit - including possible financial handout. But being a top policeman himself in the past, he probably would have understood the sitution very much too. Given the situation which involves so many people, it would be good a top government official (with authority) can talk to him directly and negotiate so as to save lives.

I think the negotiators and the law enforcers have done all the necessary peaceful means to carry out all the demands of the hostage taker but somehow their efforts did not produce well enough to end up the hostage crisis in a positive way because certain considerations are not given in favor to the hostage taker in which driven him to agitate and kill the hostages. But as we observed early, there are certain points inside the bus area where the hostage taker appeared most to be carried out easily by the snipers but no actions have been done until it become worst. so, it only indicates that our law enforcers are not yet capable enough to handle such situations. If I were one of those negotiators I might recommend to the higher officers or to those government officials concern to consider the demands as early as possible and give all the possible means to calm down the hostage taker and discuss later the outcome of the demands. the important is the hostage taker should submit himself in a peaceful manner and released all the hostages without harm.

This is a real disaster. Today my colleagues are talking about this issue. We think the rescue is totally a failure. We don't understand what's wrong with the rescue team. At the beginning the hijack person still had a peaceful attitude, and actually his requirement was not that much. What's wrong with the negotiation? This person was not asking for millions of dollars. He just wanted to be back to work. But it was even rejected by paper document officially. And this is not enough, the police even caught this person's brother which it annoyed him completely. And therefore at the end the situation was out of control. The negotiation and the rescue are fatal failing. If I were the negotiator, I should try to complete the hijack person's demands, for the sake of the innocent people.

I am a filipino but I am not proud of what happened. Regardless of the criminal's reasons and intentions, it is still wrong to use innocent people as shields to satisfy one's personal grievances. The policemen could have been more careful in their moves as not to provoked the culprit. The hostages' safety should have been the priority. I am now having a second thought because I and my friends are booked for Hong Kong this coming October for a rush tour before going to China and Macao. I hope We won't feel any unusual treatment, because I am just fair always in all my treatment regardless of race and nationality. If only I am a super hero and a negotiator, I would have kicked out all the absurd people around especially the idiot cops at the crime scene and dragged the hostage taker out in a brutal way to save the innocent victims. If only...

If I am the negotiator, I will let the family (the wife and the kids) to talk to the policeman. They are the only ones who could have changed the policeman's mind. And I will not let these cops to arrest his brother. Of course, he will be enraged and I think that has triggered his mind to kill some of the people inside the bus. If only the negotiator and the politicians listened to him, it will be peaceful. As you see, he is already letting some of the hostages out of the bus. That means he really do not want to hurt anybody. I know most of you will agree that if a family member is arrested for no reason, you will surely cannot think clearly. Family matters above all. So sad that things turned out to be like this. :(

For me, the hostage crisis took a nose dive due to untoward incidents that include the scene that the hostage taker's brother made. The law enforcers was doing a great job all throughout the day, many hostages was being freed through negotiation efforts... It should have ended peacefully and without being bloody if only the hostage taker was not agitated by his brother being arrested. The law enforcers could have done many things... stopped the brother from reaching the media, made many plans on how to enter the bus, and more... but I guess, the situation really got out of hand. If I was the negotiator, I would have done the same thing and tried to calm the hostage taker down... the problem was... the negotiator/s was having problems getting hold of the hostage taker... communication problem. Many things came up and nobody wanted this ending.

I think they should have called 911... But on international call to the USA. They could have handled it much better. With properly trained and well equipped SWAT team. They should have given into his demands. Money in exchange for a life what could be the easiest choice there? Of course you would prefer to save more lives! This clearly showed that the Philippine authorities are not well properly equipped to handle such situations.

The crisis was a disgrace for the Filipino people and the nation. the Philippine National Police should be awaken by what their comrades have done with the situation. we have all witnessed that the negotiators and the assault team lacked informations, strategies and training on how to deal crisis as such. The Philippines is again back to where it started (it's up to you to describe)... but still i'm proud to be a Filipino.