Hostage fiasco,.,.

August 23, 2010

They hate Filipinos for the hostage fiasco last August 23, right?
Then, should we hate Chinese people for the lead and melamine contamination?
Wherein,not only eight, but hundreds, maybe even thousands have suffered.
Is it right to blame a whole nation for a mistake of one man?

10:00 a.m. -- Police received a report that former senior inspector Rolando D. Mendoza commandeered the Hong Thai travel bus with license plate TUU 799 bus with an M-16 rifle and several short firearms. Twenty five people were onboard the bus -- 21 Hong Kong nationals and four Filipinos. The bus came from nearby Fort Santiago and parked near the Quirino Grandstand for the passengers to have lunch.

Few minutes later-- Hostage-taker released two women: Diana Chan and an unidentified friend.

10:30 a.m. --Mr. Mendoza released four more hostages, Tsang Yee Lai, 40; her two children, Fu Chung Yin, 4, and Fu Chak Yin, 10; and a family friend, Wong Ching Yat Jason, 12. Around this time, Senior Police Officer 2 Gregorio D. Mendoza, a brother of the hostage-taker who is also a policeman, asked permission from the authorities to let him negotiate with his brother but his request was denied.

Minutes before noon -- A seventh hostage was released, Lee See Kyu, 73.

Minutes before 1 p.m. -- A gallon of gasoline was loaded into the bus as per request of Mr. Mendoza. Packed meals for the hostages were also distributed.

2:19 p.m. --The eight hostage, Rigor Cruz, a Filipino and the assistant photographer for the trip was released. Around this time, the Philippine National Police (PNP) assigned Superintendent Orlando Yebra and Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador to negotiate with Mr. Mendoza. The Manila city government also set up a crisis management led by Vice-Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso.

4:37 p.m. -- Danilo Medril, another Filipino photographer on board the tourist bus, was released.

4:45 p.m. -- Food and drinks were loaded into the bus.

6:20 p.m. -- The negotiators, this time with Mendoza’s brother Gregorio, handed over a notice to the hostage taker from the Office of the Ombudsman promising an immediate review of his ouster case. Mr. Mendoza refused to accept the offer as it only said reopening of his case. He asked for a formal dismissal of his case.

Around 6: 30 p.m. --Two gunshots were heard from the bus. Over a radio interview, Mr. Mendoza threatened to kill the hostages if the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) would not vacate the area.

7:07 p.m. -- Mr. Mendoza reiterated to kill all hostages left in the bus, all 15 people. He refused to talk to any of his family members.

7:30 p.m. -- Alberto Lubang, the driver of the bus, was released. He later told the police that all of the hostages in the bus were shot dead.

7:37 p.m. -- The police assault team started to surround the bus. They started to smash the main entrance door and front windshield of the bus with a mallet. SWAT members were able to penetrate the bus through the emergency door but Mr. Mendoza fired at them.One official was reported injured while a civilian bystander, a woman, was hit by a stray bullet.

8:40 p.m.-- SWAT members threw a teargas into the bus through a side window.

8:41 p.m. -- Gunshots were heard. Minutes later eight Hong Kong nationals came out from the bus alive while some bodies were lifted out from the bus.

9:19 p.m. -- A radio report said five hostages were brought to the Manila Doctor’s Hospital. Four of them were dead, two women and two men. One man underwent surgery.

10:30 p.m. -- Two Hong Kong nationals, were transferred to Manila Doctor’s Hospital from Ospital ng Maynila.

Around 11:00 p.m. --In a press briefing, Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona said the hostage crisis killed nine, including the hostage-taker, and injured eight others.

YOU!!!

the wind blows
I shiver
you held me close
you whisper
those three words in my ear
I suddenly warm
glad that you're there
to keep me safe from harm
but when I opened my eyes
I realized I woke up from a nightmare
I remember your reasons and all your lies
I don't know why I I loved you, why I cared
you lied to me, you hurt me
but always give you one more chance
I was blind, and now I realize suddenly
I gave your picture one more glance
and decided that I'm sick of you
all your words, all your lies
I wanna shout to the world that "we're through"
tired of all the times you made me cry!
then I heard a knock on my door
opening it, getting ready to shout "scram"
you were standing there
looking down on the floor
I realize I'm crazy about you
DAMN...

Redemption!!!

Watching you.

One look and my wound are painless
A glance and my rough scars mend
One gaze and my sins are absolved
A touch and my suffering ends.

Waiting for response.

One word and my heart is soaring
A smile and my worries cease
One laugh and my tears Stop flowing
A kiss and my soul is free>>>

ROOTED<><><>

Strong winds.
They pull me.
Pulling me into the sea, the great sea.
There are corals in there, Jewels.
Yet you keep me grounded...to the soil.
Your soil.

Flood waters.
They pull me.
Washing me away with great strength.
I could have been in many places.
But you pull me and keep me grounded to the soil.
Your soil.

Thunderstorms.
They pull me.
Blowing me with great velocity.
I could have been somewhere...anywhere.
But you pull me. Still.
Pull me grounded, keeping me in the soil.
Your soil.

I was just a seed.
Then I was a plant.
Now I am a tree.
Grounded firmly, firmly to the soil.
Because you pulled me to the soil.
MY SOIL...

What do you THINK??

What is a state without people? What is a nation without a unified beat? Where then would you belong? Who will you ever meet?

But then without its people, a state can never be. And without the merge of a million throbs, a nation you won't see. Each person is equipped with a mind, a mind that constantly yearns. Each human is outfitted with a heart, a heart that constantly burns.

So thus without a mind, is no being in disguise. And lacking a heart, is the world's own demise. It is strange to see how the world works and how everything seems to intertwine my words, your thoughts, her actions, and with what is believed to be divine.

Could this be by man-made concepts? Could this be life's mystery? Maybe this world has become the greatest riddle as we lived our lives in uncertainty.

I never asked,,.,.

I never asked for anything,
but you gave it all to me.
That exhilaration of climbing the highest peak,
that feeling of my heart in my throat,
like a huge roller coaster ride.
I smiled the widest I had ever had in my life.

But look at me,
all I have now are buckets of tears for the past,
you did give me everything,
even that stinging arrow,
piercing through my heart,
that slap on my face.

I don't remember ever telling you to hurt me,
I never asked you for anything.
I didn't ask for your heart,
I never asked for your hope,
your soul, and your smile....

It is HISTORY!!!!

Why should we bother to know events
That have already taken place?
"It is history!"
We live in present.
We shall not dwell in the past.
"It is history!"
Whatever we do, we cannot go back in time
And change past errors and events.
"It is history!"
What is done is done.
It is history!

But then,
What is the present without the past?
It is void.
Hence what is the future without the present?
It is pointless.
So, from whereto can we say that the present is
Indeed the present?
And from whereto can we say that the
Future would be bright...
Or that it would be bleak?
Whereto? "It is history!"

Another Day,.,.,

As I lay on my bed at the end of the day, I try to recall the things that came my way.I've pondered over things I've been thinking about but they never made e grin, they just made me pout.

All I could think about are the things I should've done but I know opportunities are over, they have long been gone. I should've joined the fancy club in school, I should've studied hard for the test, however, I regret to say that I did not do my very best.

Now all I could do is to contemplate about the things that really matter. It just never occurred to me that life can be a blur. I tried to fall asleep to let the day get lost in history but somehow I have to find something right, something that would make a great story.

I reflected long and hard for something worthwhile that happened. Alas! I found the answer! It's something pleasant and ardent. The times I laughed along with my friends don't really add up to my fame and I don't care if it really does, for life is just a game.

Life is like a roller coaster, you just got to enjoy the ride. Now I know this day is never wasted all because I SMILED>>>:)

Somewhere Inside of me!!!

Somewhere inside of me
Is someone no one can see
Someone hidden from the world
Afraid to show its true colors

So everyday I wear a mask
To hide all my fears
And everyday the happy mask
Shed all my tears

And everyday I sit by the window
Thinking why do I have to hide
And wear this ugly mask to cover
The real my inside

And so starting today
I'll get out of my own shell
Start to be what I am
And live life well.,,..

the real LEONA

How can anyone be so cruel? (TAMBUCHO KILLING)

In city and municipal pounds across the country, they are and have been using a horrifying method of putting down unclaimed and unwanted dogs.
Just recently, the Department of Agriculture enacted an Administrative Order which allows for the inhumane “tambucho-gassing method” of dogs (and even cats).


The procedure starts with seven to ten dogs manhandled and stuffed in a metal box that they seal. The dogs as one can imagine howl and wail in panic and fear, scratching the walls of the box, and each other. A hose is connected from a vehicle’s exhaust pipe to the metal box. The vehicle revs its engine continuously for 10 to 15 minutes, emitting poisonous fumes, sending the dogs to a maddening frenzy, whimpering and howling, feeling every bit of pain possible.

Then… silence. Death.

The tambucho killing method is currently being done on a weekly basis in some provinces with the use of improvised gas chambers. Some of these allow the gas to leak, making it a longer, more painful torture. Sometimes,the dogs are in the metal box, crying for help for an hour.

The Administrative Order states that this is an accepted and legal method of euthanasia.Euthanasia means “good death.” Where is the good in this? Is it good because it costs less and it augurs well for the city or municipality”s budget?

The main rationale for the government would condone this cruel way of putting down animals is economic reasons. They gauge that it would only take P5 to put down a dog by way of tambucho gassing. As opposed to injecting sodium pentobarbital (or Euthal) by well-trained and caring personnel which is the preferred method for providing the most human death for dogs and cats. They just get numb and go to sleep according to veterinarians. The injection of barbiturates is also included, but because it costs about P150 per dog, they would rather employ the cheaper option.Where is the good in this?

Other countries have similar but a lot more sophisticated means of putting down animals. In Japan, they have a chamber that even looks like an operating room for humans, where they use carbon monoxide in cylinders which is odorless, tasteless and colorless, although their method already draws a lot of controversy. But because carbon monoxide is not available in the Philippines, we resort to the more barbaric, painful, cruel version.


More than that, this method adds to the problem of our environment. Imagine the greenhouse gas emissions of these vehicles that will be revived for at least 10 minutes per killing session, multiply that by the number of times they have to perform it in a week, times the number of dogs across the country. They don't even think about the carbon footprint that this will leave behind?


If we need to put a dog to death because he cannot be cared for, the least we can do is send him off as painlessly and as humanely as possible.Like Mahatma Gandhi said, The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. I think we as Filipinos should call the attention of President Aquino. This is no wang-wang or tong but it surely does have a greater effect on the moral fiber of our nation