A nation of fatal failures

You come to a country expecting to have a nice time. And then you end up dead. What is the name of this country you took a chance on that cost you your life? The Philippines.

The above script of an internal conversation is the sorry outcome of my own personal failure to even begin to imagine what it might be like to be the father of one of the eight people killed in last night's hostage drama. It pretty much sums up the gray light shining upon the Pearl of the Orient from a global perspective.

Even blogger Rom who provided an excellent evaluation of accountability across the key parties -- the police, the politicians, and the Media -- who were in the best position to influence the outcome of the Rolando Mendoza hostage drama that ended in the death of eight innocent people plus Mendoza, conceded at the end of her piece that things like these are ultimately our problem.

The bigger ramification of disasters that originate from our sad island nation is that the global community will not distinguish accountability amongst the internal players of our little nation. The Philippine Police, Philippine Politicians, and the Philippine Media are prefixed by the word that describes their -- our -- common denominator -- The Philippines.

While Rom went via a drumroll to get to the real crux of the matter, AntiPinoy.com writer Dr Jose Rizal II simply put it in straight from the very beginning...

No tourist in his right mind is going to want to visit the Failippines.

Yes, the Failippines. That should be the real name for the wretched country that not only ends up on the top of the world’s disaster-prone list for natural disasters, but also seems to be at the top when it comes to self-inflicted man-made tragedies.

Ill-equipped, ill-trained, ill-prepared, and ill-thought-out. These are words that can easily describe anything to do with the Philippines across the board -- from its politicians, to its law-enforcement officers, to its Media, and ultimately to the very people they serve (and are consequently reflections of). The propensity to fail consistently is ingrained into the very fibres that make up the very fabric of Philippine society. There is no stepping any further back from that simple reality.