here are my thoughts about what happened.
Captain Mendoza, the former policeman and the hostage taker, had no intention of hurting the hostages. based from what i heard and saw from the news, he freed the children and the older passengers of the tourist bus. this shows that at that point, he was still aware of his values and still considers the well-being of others. he merely wanted to catch the attention so his demands would be heard. based from my source, he did not demand for reinstatement of position (which was what other reports say). his demand was his motion for his case last 2008 and the letters (2-3) he sent be reviewed. another demand was that he be able to read and see the "motion" of the Ombudsman, the one handling his case.
here is what i thought of the situation.
first, Captain Mendoza had a clean record before the 2008 incident wherein he was involved in a drugs case. he even received a number of awards for his excellence at work. so being suddenly involved in a case that may ruin ones career and found guilty, this was a big change and it may also have been a great shock for him. this may have caused uneasiness, insecurity and anxiety to him.
second, he comes from a family of police officers. his brother is a police officer here in Manila while his son is also an officer in the province of Abra. here we see that he comes from a family that has great belief in rules and may have in them a great importance for values. so having a case in 2008, he may have felt disappointed at himself for seemingly braking his belief/values.
third, there seems to be already a "motion" from the Ombudsman but he does not hear anything from it for two years. from what i understand, the long wait may have distressed him a lot considering that two years has passed. thinking about the circumstance where there was a great turn in ones life for that long creates anxiety. prolonged anxiety changes a person's behavior and also a person's understanding and reactions to stimulus.
my point in all this is, his actions for the hostage taking may be because of long-term anxiety, disappointment and uneasiness. at some point, he may eventually have felt depressed about what happened last 2008 and not hearing anything about his case increased the tension in him.
when Captain Mendoza was talking to a reporter, he said something about nothing to live for because there seems to be no movement in his case and he might as well kill himself.
from that statement, we see that
1) there is already something "distorted" or "wrong" about his belief
2) he has suicidal tendencies
3) and he has low self-esteem
at this point, though already emotionally unstable, there was still negotiation between Captain Mendoza and the Negotiator. there was a report that he was also saying thank you when he heard that his motion for review would be considered. this may mean that at some point, he was still aware of reality but surely he was a ticking time bomb just waiting for that trigger that will initiate the big blast.
the trigger i was talking about was when Captain Mendoza saw in the tv of the bus that his brother was "being harassed"* he finally lost it and he began to be very agitated, aggressive and very violent. this was were the situation became a living hell to everyone involved, even to the family of Captain Mendoza. he has lost his sense of reality, his thoughts have become "distorted" and he raised his defense, he already had that instinct if he was going to die, he might as well "drag" the hostages with him to death.
from my understanding, Captain Mendoza was a troubled person that needed help but was reciprocated with violence, instead of a tedious and patient negotiation. it would have ended well if there was only a better understanding, negotiation and patience.
to be continued tomorrow...
*being harassed - this was what was shown in reports but there is another story behind this.
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