Just Got Fed Up!

     A 23 year old former student of the Polytechnic College in Navotas City, Philippines held hostage for 5 hours a school employee. The SWAT Team of the Philippine National Police was called to negotiate with the suspect for the safe release of the hostage. Thankfully, the former student listened to the negotiators and let the woman go unharmed. Otherwise it could have ended in a bloody mess as most hostage taking incidents end up with the death of the victims and of the hostage-taker. Remember the Police Major who went apeshit and killed all those Hong Kong tourists inside the bus?

     When interviewed by the media after his arrest, the hostage taker said he just got fed up with all the crap in the school. He said he was fed up with the long lines at the school during enrollment, being taken for granted by the school staff when the students need something and from the scolding they often get from the staff. Most of his classmates that were interviewed said the guy was a hot-head but they were still surprised that he'd do a crazy move like that.

      I really don't know this guy but sometimes I get frustrated at government institutions too. Long lines are really a norm; stupid, lazy and arrogant employees also add to the delay of processing papers, not to mention the "Standard Operating Procedure" (SOP) of government employees which ask you for "grease money" to speed up the progression of your transactions. They can really slow down the processing of your papers if you don't give them any bribes, they make you come back so often and waste your time , money and effort. That's why most Filipinos have no choice but to give bribes to avoid delays in their transactions.

      I've experienced this many times when dealing with the government offices, in the City Hall, at the LTO (Land Transportation Office), BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), etc. so I know what it's like to be in this guy's shoes. I'm not condoning what this former student did to express his disgust to the school staff but most Filipinos really feel disgusted at our government system and its personnel. The level of corruption and red tape is really getting worse every day.

     It would have been better if the former student asked the media to help him expose the school's anomalies rather than take a hostage. At least his ass wouldn't be in jail for his dumb actions. I hope he learns his lesson well that if you use your brain rather than brawn, you'll get better results. Well, he's got a lot of time now to think about that.....inside his jail cell.