Saturday, August 28, 2010

So Much Drama


Last week was one hell of a week, huh!

Dengue Outbreak. Statistics show that dengue cases are rapidly increasing, not only in the Philippines but also in the Southeast Asian countries. Death tolls have been going up. Here in my porovince, hospitals are being "ambushed" by dengue victims. Tsk.

It is a known fact that mosquitoes live on stagnant water, and that they multiply fast during the rainy season. And during this season that we should really do what we can in order to prevent dengue from spreading like wildfire. The dengue virus can be contracted from a single bite of a mosquito (from an infected person).. then is transferred to another person. So we should all do our part. Prevention and early treatment are the best ways to fight it.

Venus Raj. Major, major win! Oh yeah. Me and my family watched the Miss Universe Pageant on TV. I really believe that Ms Venus Raj has what it takes to win. She's beautiful, smart and knows how to carry herself on stage. Grace under pressure. However, when I heard her answer during the Question-and-answer portion, I was like.. "Oh crap! She blew it, bigtime!"

Yes. That was my very first reaction. Then I started thinking, If I were in Venus's shoes, I don't know if I'd be able to open my mouth. People were very fast to judge Ms Raj. But like me, they do not know how it feels like to be on stage, to have millions of people watch you and hear your answer. As I said, If that was me, I'd consider myself lucky if I can say "Hello" to the audience.

I still believe that Miss Venus Raj is one smart, beautiful lady. Being part of the top 5 is already a huge honor. I just don't get it why so many people were so affected by her answer. She just cracked. She's only human, after all. Hmp. They'll grow tired of it, eventually. I just know that Venus Raj certainly made me (and many others) feel proud of being a Pinay.

Hostage-taking scenario. I heard about this news on the radio.. at around 10:30 in the morning. There's a hostage-taking scenario at Quirino. It didn't bother me that much. Hostage-taking drama are pretty much common here in the Philippines. In the evening, it was still all over the news. So I decided to watch TV and pretended to care.

Great. Live feed. It's like watching a movie, only it's not. When it comes to movies, I can be a critic. And in this one, though it is definitely NOT a movie, I still saw some flaws. Excuse me for saying these. Just an observation.

Take for example. Pistols. Our SWAT team didn't even have laser-sight guns. I was like, "Why? Don't you guys play RE4?? A laser-sight gun is a must when you're killing zombies. And in this case, the BAD GUY." A laser-aiming device is often attached to the gun to enable the handler to shoot with greater speed and accuracy, most especially in times of self defense and THREAT. That night, they didn't have any. I felt disgusted. There were innocent people on board. Lives were on the line. Oh, and SWAT means Special Weapons And Tactics team - an elite team trained to perform high-risks operations. I didn't see any "tactics". Using rope to open a bus door? Gathering around the bus and just sitting there, doing nothing for about 30 minutes?

Tear gas. As far as I know, a canister of tear gas is often used to disperse a crowd or to disorient an individual. There are about three kinds of tear gas, and these are irritants. Irritating the mucus membranes of the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs, thus the coughing sneezing, etc. So the scenario. The SWAT team broke the door using the sledgehammer, then about 3 or 4 tear gas cylinders were thrown inside the bus. Bam! I expected the SWAT team (with NO proper battle gear?.. gas masks, bulletproof vests, night vision goggles, the likes.. it was frustrating, really) to immediately move in. And guess what. NO ONE MOVED. The bad guy should have been disoriented after 10 seconds or so. But no, the SWAT team waited for like, forever. After 5 minutes, no movement. After 10 minutes, none. I asked myself, "What the heck are they waiting for?"

Media. Ok. I believe na there should be a limit to everything. Having "press freedom" does not mean that they'd report EVERYTHING they see. I'm not against the media, reporting the events. But at times like this one, they should have been more... sensitive. There were lives on the line. It's kinda irritating that every move the SWAT team makes, the media reports. Like...

Oh. The assualt team has arrived. Yes, they gathering around the bus. The mobile cars are going in. Ten men are alongside it. Yes, it's raining now. It's raining hard. GUNSHOT! We're on the ground now. I sneezed. Excuse me.

Hah!

Anyway, it's all over now. I'm sure that all of us have learned a thing or two from this. Yep! This has totally opened our eyes. Let us just hope and pray that it won't happen again. Hoping.. with fingers crossed.

I told you.. That was one hell of a week, huh!

5 comments:

  1. peste nga mga lamok na yan.. dapat na mag-ingat.. isang kagat.. nakuuuuu! hospital ang bagsak mo kung saka-sakali.. kainis pa ung papaikutan ka pa sa tenga mo... hehehe

    mahirap din kapag na on the spot ka... namemental block ka.. minsan kahit gano ka kaprepared or something pagdating dun sa mismong oras na yun.. wala... tameme ka..

    at sa hostage taking.. hay naku.. un lang ang masasabi ko.. hehehehe

    dumaan at nakibasa.. nakitalak na din ahihihi

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  2. Halos lahat ng laman ng sirkulasyon ay tungkol sa hostage crisis...kakalungkot...

    ingat tau sa dengue...sali k next time sA Ms. U hehehe...

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  3. @Yanah: Oo nga.. Ingat tayo sa lamok. Mga pesteng lamok. Grrr!! Oh, and you're totally right. Kahit ilang ulit nating pinraktis, eh may mga pagkakataon talagang name-mental block tayo. Shesh! Tao lang po.

    @Jag: Oo nga noh. Top news item kasi. Hehe.. Echusera rin ako eh. Hindi napigilan ang sariling magpost ng entry. =)

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  4. Yan ang napapala ng nagbabakasyon. Haha. Wilkam bak po. Parang ako din kahit andito hindi rin naguupdate, :)

    Puro hostage nga ang laman ng karamihan sa blog, kaya nakibasa na lang ako at nagtweet ng isang beses. Haha. Tama na sa kin yun.

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  5. Hehehe.. Oo nga Yow. Hot topic kasi. Salamat sa pag "Wilkam Bak".. I really appreciate it. =)

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