Corporate social responsibility

THE hostage crisis in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, ended Wednesday at 6 a.m. when the Manobo hostage-takers abandoned their captives.

The crisis lasted five days.

Five days is too long for a hostage situation.

Who knows, the government could have made concessions with Manobo tribesmen who demanded the release of one of their own, Ondo Perez.

Perez is in jail for holding hostage 70 people in 2009.

If Perez is released soon, that means that government gave in to terrorism.

In the future, other groups with the same problem as the Manobos will hold hostage innocent people to solve their problem.

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Where was the vaunted Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police, which is supposedly trained in jungle warfare—the hostages were held in the jungle—and rescuing hostages?

If the SAF really had its claimed expertise, the hostages would have been rescued within 24 hours of their captivity.

The Special Action Force is long on words, short on action.

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On Tuesday, April 5, I asked if Globe Telecom, a huge company, was coddling criminals.

I made that comment because Globe would not surrender its security guards who were involved in a shooting rampage in the Cembo-Guadalupe Nueva area in Makati City that resulted in the killing of Jeffrey Tolentino.

Tolentino was fishing for food in the Pasig River when he was hit by one of the bullets fired by Globe security guards.

Yolly Crisanto, Globe spokesperson, said it was unfair of me to make that comment.

Globe, she said, is a reputable company that would not coddle criminals.

But until yesterday (Wednesday), Globe had not surrendered to the Makati police the security guards who were involved in the shooting rampage.

The Makati police were waiting for the guns used in the shooting to be turned in by Globe so they could be subjected to ballistic tests.

As a reputable company, Globe has a corporate social responsibility program.

Part of its corporate social responsibility activities involves sending a representative to the wake of Jeffrey Tolentino and condoling with his family.

It also involves assuring the victim’s family that justice will be served.