THE HAGUE – Filipino security workers in The Hague are worried that the poor handling of the Manila hostage crisis will have a negative impact on their careers and to aspiring Filipino applicants.
Many Pinoys here are working as security staff to several big international organizations in The Hague. Most of them were recruited from the police and military in the Philippines.
Some Pinoys are starting to worry that the hostage crisis would lead stereotyping, which may affect the recruitment of their fellow kababayans here.
Two Filipinos who wanted to remain anonymous were interviewed by Balitang Europe.
“Dito sa aking unit, nararamdaman namin nung day one pa lang na parang iba ang pagkakakilala sa amin ngayon kasi kapwa Pilipino ang na-involve sa crisis na ito. Ang tingin nila sa amin ganun din ang training na dinanas namin at ganun din mentalidad meron kami bilang pulis kaya nahihiya kami sa nangyari na maapektuhan din ang aming career,” said a former member of the Philippine National Police.
There is a big demand for workers in the security profession here because The Hague, being the legal capital of the world, houses many big international organizations. But a mandatory job requirement is of having a military or police background.
Most of the Filipinos working here as security personnel were either hired straight from the Philippines or from mission posts as peacekeepers with the United Nations.
With the embarrassing handling of the hostage crisis, the Pinoys fear that there will be bias towards Filipino applicants just because of the bad image of the police.
“Parang nakikita nila ang ating image kulang sa ano ang mga pulis sa atin. Kung paano mag-handle sa crisis na ganyan. Nakikita nila parang kulang. Saka pumalpak talaga so ibig sabihin hindi maganda ang ating training. Hindi updated sa mga bagay at pati sa mga gamit,” said a former member of the Philippine Army.
The Pinoys who were formerly from the PNP and AFP admit that the handling of the hostage crisis was really unprofessional.
“Sa nakita ko medyo parang bumaba ang klase ng training at responsibilidad na dapat nilang gawin,” said the former PNP member.
He added that he has been in the Netherlands working as security guard for more than a decade now yet he could still remember his local training when he was following the hostage crisis on The Filipino Channel.
“Basic training sa police kagaya yung nakita natin ang suspect na nakatayo sa steps o sa stribo ng bus which I say mga 5 seconds that time. Yun ay clear shot na sa mga SWAT team na i-takedown ang suspect na hindi ginawa. Ang nangyari na-prolong pa ang drama,” he said.
For his part, the ex-Army member, who also followed the crisis on TFC, was shocked and irritated at the behavior of the police after the tragedy.
“Nagpa-picture pa doon pagkatapos doon sa bus na kinakailangan parang background nila. Ano ba ginawa nila dun nagpa-picture pa? Ano ba sila? Turista ba sila din?” he complained.
The Pinoys also fear that the crisis will also affect their careers, particularly their future promotions or extensions of their contracts.
They are afraid that there will be discrimination against them and that they will have to be forced to be extra careful and pay attention not to make any error in their jobs or else be branded as "the incompetent Filipino police."
The Pinoys hope that President Benigno “Nonoy” Aquino III will take a more drastic step in order to finish the investigation fast and uplift the reputation of the PNP for the benefit of the Filipinos who are applying or who will apply for security jobs in the Netherlands as well as for those competent and efficient Pinoys who are already in the security work force in the different parts of world.
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