Broadcaster hits back at hostage crisis team member over 'lecture'

A day after being reminded that lives are more important than a scoop, a radio network official lashed back Wednesday at a member of an investigating body looking into the Aug. 23 Manila hostage crisis. Jake Maderazo, anchor and spokesman of Radyo Mo Nationwide (RMN), dismissed Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) member Teresita Ang-See’s reminder as "theatrics" and "dramatics." "Sa totoo lang kung ako tatanungin mo, theatrics yun, or dramatics. Talagang napakagandang sound bites yan nakikiusap ka na bakit di ninyo ginawa ito human rights ang importante (If you ask me, that spiel on giving priority to human lives was theatrics, dramatics, good for a sound bite)," Maderazo said when interviewed on his home network dzXL. Besides, Maderazo said the transcript of the interview with Mendoza showed they tried to appeal to Mendoza’s conscience during their interview. “Ang transcript alam niya, member siya ng panel, nabasa niya ang episode, nakikiusap tayo, kinokonsensya natin ang hostage-taker (She is part of the panel that was provided the transcript of the interview. She should see we also talked to Mendoza and appealed to his conscience to release the hostages)," he said. During Tuesday’s IIRC hearing, Ang-See told Maderazo and RMN reporter-anchor Michael Rogas they “should have made an appeal" for the hostages. Eight Hong Kong tourists and their hostage-taker, dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, were killed in the Aug. 23 standoff.

Ang-See pointed out that none of the anchors of RMN who interviewed the hostage-taker pleaded for the hostages. "Didn’t you think of talking to him for the release of the hostages? Apparently you had the line but you did not even bother to make an appeal to free the hostages," she said. Maderazo said he could not tell Ang-See during the hearing that the Aug. 23 incident was a hostage crisis and “not a telenovela." "Sa isip ko di ko masabi, hostage taking ito Madame Ang-See, hindi ito telenobela (I thought but could not say out loud to Madame Ang-See that this was a hostage situation and not a telenovela)," he said. "Sana kung telenobela pwede natin gawin yan. Pero may nagpaputok na minumura ang negotiator (If the unfolding hostage drama were a telenovela, we could have pleaded for the hostages. But someone fired shots and hurled invectives at the negotiator)," he added. Maderazo also argued that if the RMN were looking for a scoop, the interview should have happened at the start of the incident. "If we were looking for a scoop, we should have called him [hostage-taker] nine hours earlier. Is there such a thing as a scoop that came nine hours after the incident started)?" he said. He also said that had Mendoza not gone berserk, the RMN interview with him "would have been a normal interview." "Alam ba natin magnenegosasyon sila at magpapaputok siya ng baril? Alam ba natin mag-iinit ang ulo ni Capt. Mendoza pag nakita niya ang nangyayari sa monitor (Did we know he would fire his gun? Did we know Mendoza would go berserk when he saw his brother being arrested)?" he said. Stop finger-pointing Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines called for an end to finger-pointing and urged people to “look forward" and learn from the lessons of the tragedy. Fr. Francis Lucas, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Social Communication and Mass Media, said the important thing is to learn the lessons and make sure the tragedy is not repeated. "Ang tanong natin ano ang lessons na dapat panghalagahan (The question now is, what are the lessons we should take to heart)?" he said on dzXL radio. But he said the investigation must pinpoint soonest those responsible for the lapses that cost eight hostages and the hostage-taker's lives. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV