Stand Off For A Cause?
March 29, 2007 · Print This Article
Four (4) teachers and twenty six (26) students of Musmos Day Care Center in Parola Compound were held hostage inside a bus yesterday, March 28 at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila.
Armed with a grenade, an UZI, and a .45 caliber pistol; Armando “Jun” Ducat Jr., owner of the said day care, had a change of heart and turned the supposed to be field trip in Tagaytay into a 10-hour hostage drama.
His demands:
Support for the education of at least 145 school children of the Musmos Daycare and improved housing for them and their families.
The crisis ended with a promise from Senator Bong Revilla and an IT college to fund the education of the children; a commitment from MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando to improve the living condition in Parola; a candle lighting ceremony for all candidates in the upcoming elections that they might be “enlightened” and would not be corrupt; and 26 counts of illegal detention and illegal possession of firearms filed against Ducat and his accomplice.
In his message in Filipino, Ducat appealed to the public not to be angry with him.
He said what he wanted for the children was education “because if they were educated they would have discipline and would not become drug addicts.”
“I am appealing to you to give me a chance to speak. You are witnesses to the political dynasties, the rampant stealing in government. Because of this, our dream of progress for the country will not be realized,” Ducat said.
“Aren’t we ashamed of ourselves? We are a country who believes in God and yet we are ungodly in our actions,” he said.
“President Arroyo is fighting corruption, we should unite with her,” he added.
Ducat had said that he was willing to accept punishment for what he did. At the same time, he warned the public not to put their trust in politicians whom he accused of using the poor for their own ends.
excerpts from Inquirer.net
For me, it was a noble intention done in bad taste. I could not help but think that here is a man with nothing but a good heart for those children, but has gone frustrated and hopeless seeing how corruption and poverty robs these poor children of a good future.
What do you think of this incident and about the man that some people view as a hero while others think as a wacko? Just interested on your two cents.
Definitely bad news for us as a nation. With Revilla and co. answering his demands, the world just saw us succumb to terrorism.
He loved those kids so much, he showed them that they could get their way with a little terrorism. Noble? Surely there’s something wrong with this picture. There must be other ways.
It was a noble intention… but why do I feel as though it’s a politically motivated one?
It could be the bred to the bone cynic in me talking and while I truly feel for the motives behind his actions and that his heart was in the right place, the whole hostage drama reeked of 9/11.
I admire Ducat for having the balls to have those kinds of demands but saying all that about PGMA made me leery.
ZEROVOLTAGE
i speak of nobility for his intention.. but i do not approve of his method.. as always, the end do not justify the means.
…but he sure earned an audience thru his stint…
JOAN
if that was really his legitimate act, i admire him for having the balls to do it as well, yet i pity him for not having enough brain…
my 2 cent? tinuruan lang ni ducat maging kalabit penge ang mga magulang at ang mga bata dun sa hostage incident. He should have demanded na livelihood ang ibigay sa mga magulang ng mga bata at ng mapag-aral nila ang mga anak nila… So ngayun, sarap naman buhay nila, pakuyakuyakoy na lang… me scholarship na anak nila, may bahay pa. Kung gusto talaga nilang mapag aral yung anak nila and have a good future… then earn it… (cont)
(cont) hindi dahil may isang tinopak lang at nagtantrums… bigay na agad.
Dapat din masibak yung in charge na police… aba… san ka nakakita na imbes na bawasan ang hostage, dinagdagan pa? kung ano hingin ni ducat, bigay naman sila… simpleng simple na lang ng pag cordon ng location di pa magawa…
at itong si chavit? if i can remember well dapat nakakulong to kasama ni erap… may atraso ka pa sa amin, tas tatakbo takbo ka jan… sana may mandaya na wag kang manalo.
di ako galit
tanong ko lang habang pinanonood ko ang balitang ito sa BBC News based sa London eh…
Pano kung hindi ibigay sa kanya yung demands nya, papatayin nya yung mga bata at guro? tsk tsk tsk
After realizing that an online alter ego away from work is really needed to sustain sanity, i went back to blogging which is now found at http://marcogol.wordpress.com, no more love stricken and such, its all rants etc.
masarap mag reklamo haha
anyway in lieu of your post, its truly a bad knock for our country. succumbing to demands of an assailant (who took a noble stand) and sending *sigh* bong revilla -understood to be a close friend of ducat, but still- and chavit… those two made me utter the words that make up this chat abbrevs… wtf.
and singson raising his banner that he didnt do it for campaign sweets is just plain bs… bs thats all that is… paranoia and pure bs…
sucks to be ducat hehhe…
JEPROCKSDWORLD
as for chavit, sige pag-usapan natin yan sa susunod na entry. 
higg blood naman to!
ISKOO
well sabi nya wala naman siyang balak saktan yung mga bata.. gusto lang niyang mapakinggan ang kanyang mga hinain so malamang ibigay or hindi, sa pagpapalaya din ng hostages mauuwi yun.
MARCO
tama ka, masarap magreklamo! bwahaha! o naiinggit ka din kay singson?