On the 23rd of August 2010, eight Hong Kong nationals were killed on Philippine soil when a tourist bus was taken into hostage by former senior police inspector Rolando Mendoza. It was an 11-hour long siege that ended in tragedy, and left millions of Filipinos in shame.
The GUIDON extends its deepest sympathies to all those who have felt the painful impact of the incident, and in particular, to the families and friends of those lost in the tragedy. It is the hope of the organization that everyone, including the Ateneo community, come together with the spirit of awareness and empathy during this most trying time currently faced by our nation.
As the official student publication of the Ateneo de Manila University, The GUIDON expresses extreme disappointment in the severely mismanaged occurrence that transpired last August 23. We deplore all mishandled events that paved the way for an already terrible hostage scenario to turn into an international bloodbath— one that continues to paint a bleak picture of the country’s government, its officials, and its citizens, ten days into its aftermath.
The GUIDON particularly disapproves of the appalling lack of ethics and sensitivity that surrounded the media that day. As our professional counterparts continued to air compromising footage of the crisis, even insisting to include a blow-by-blow commentary of the entire siege, we recounted the standards of media ethics we were taught as young journalists— stringent media values that these professionals were expected to, but did not, uphold.
The media may have been cast in a horrible light two Mondays ago, but The GUIDON still persists to root itself in the ideals of journalistic excellence that are expected from every publication and media institution, both amateur and professional. We will continue to devotedly advocate the values of ethical and responsible journalism in this country, especially now that we have seen how much it we lack. We understand our role as future members of the media— and it isn’t our duty to mediate between the affairs of the State, nor is it our job to facilitate the spread of incriminating information.
Rather, we here in the media are in the duty of truth-telling— and if there’s anything that what transpired last August 23 has taught us, it’s that even honesty is tied to responsibility.
