The 2010 Manila Hostage Crisis

The Manila Hostage Crisis or also known as the Rizal Park hostage-taking incident, it
happened on August 23, 2010. The former PNP officer, Rolando Mendoza, hostage a bus that
carried 21 Hong Kong tourists and 4 local tour guides. The reason behind this is the plea of
Mendoza to the case that dismissed him from his job as a police officer, he demands for a hearing
that is fair and can enable him to defend his point. The negotiations of Mendoza and the police
was highly broadcasted live on television, it took 10 hours before the hostage crisis ended. As the
police captured Mendoza’s brother, it is what triggered him to open fire to his hostages, right after
the bus driver managed to escape, they hurriedly proceeded into capturing Mendoza which took
90 minutes. The result of the hostage crisis was Mendoza being dead as they tried to capture him,
8 hostages were killed and other are injured and traumatized.

An ethical dilemma that is evident in the hostage crisis is the choice between choosing to
hear the plea of Mendoza to save the hostages or to take the justice out of their hands immediately,
both has an effect to what will happen to the hostage crisis itself, it could make things better or
worse. In addition to that, ethical issues can also be found in the situation such as the decision of
the local government to not give Mendoza his plea in order for the hostage crisis to end, it elevated
the situation because of the ethical principles of the government official and the things they need
to do in order to protect the sanity of the law. There is also a conflict with the decision of firing to
end the hostage crisis because even though it will resolve the problem that is seen, it is still
unethical to do to kill a human being.
Contributor, W. (2021, August 23). The Manila Hostage Crisis incident, 11 years after the fact.

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