Stealing the thunder from Naguillan accident

BULL’S HIT
Rudy Garcia

BAGUIO CITY -- In the limelight is the hostage taking incident at Quirino Grandstand in Manila. It overshadowed the bus tragedy at Sablan, Benguet.

Perhaps the operators of the Eso-Nice bus at least can rest their mind in the meantime. They should be thankful to the now dead former cop, the hostage taker. He took away the heat from the Naguillan accident.

But most Filipinos are not happy with the hostage crisis -- a big black eye to the country. They blame the government for inefficiency in handling the situation. Government officials meanwhile blame each other for the unwanted scenario. The SWAT team looked like neophytes in a battle field pitted against a one man army ready to crush people in his hands.

More funny is that some intelligent officials tried to steal the limelight by blaming the media for the failure of the hostage negotiation. What went wrong it seems, was the outrage of the hostage taker because of the arrest of his brother.

Now those who arrested him are claiming they only followed an order from their superior. The superior meanwhile claims a Manila mayor ordered the arrest, which the later denied he did. No written order, no proof.

Well things come and go. But this hostage crisis could mean that tourists who may want to come for a business or pleasure in this Banana Republic will have to think twice or more before doing so…perhaps in doubt over their security and protection…and I bet this is now causing much headaches among heads of the Tourism department and likewise to businessmen who would be greatly affected by the domino effect. Still optimistic? Brace yourself.
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More and more children are being addicted to computers. The computer business is among the booming businesses in Baguio. These children oftentimes are seen in computer or internet shops even during late evenings not for their school research but for playing online games. So what are the local officials doing to regulate this? The irony is, their children are not among those seen in these internet cafes. For some, they may not know it but their children could be at the computer shops playing games at daytime.