An Airsofter Point of View : If You Can't Take The Pain Don't Play The Game

I am an airsoft enthusiast for more than 3 years now and one of the most difficult military simulation we had was during Swordfish II in Sagay City wherein one of the scenario was a hostage taking in a bus similar to what happened last week in Quirino Grandstand.

The objective of that game was to rescue a number of passengers in the bus from a group of terrorists in the shortest possible time. Just like what transpired in last week's hostage crisis, we also had difficulty in entering the bus because the terrorists had the vantage point. So most of the time we either get hit first or hit a hostage during the attempt. For me, this is acceptable because as we all know, this is only a role-playing game and of course we are not trained like our S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons And Tactics) in the PNP.

However, the rescue attempt last week was unacceptable. S.W.A.T supposedly are elite force trained for hostage crisis and counter-terrorism. Needless to say, it appeared last week that the M.P.D.-S.W.A.T. are not prepared for this kind of scenario. Obviously, they didn't anticipate the possible problems that they might encounter during their assault. Like continuously using a sledge hammer to break in even though it was not working to their advantage. Deciding to use tear gas without using gas masks during their assault. Allowing some of the S.W.A.T. members to get involved in the operation without even using kevlar helmets and bulletproof vest. To make things worst, it took them almost an hour before they were able to control the situation. Sadly, there were 8 hostages killed in this incident.

I am not here to pass judgment on them but I strongly believed that if they were more aggressive, this hostage crisis would have ended peacefully.

I agree that this is an isolated incident but the fact remains that the situation was not handled properly. I think this is the very reason why the people of Hong Kong are still demanding an explanation from us.

Airsoft is a gentleman's game. This is also what we are expecting from the people involved in this incident. Unfortunately, nobody is man enough to accept the command responsibility of this hostage crisis.

We must realize that the only way we can redeem ourselves from this mess is by accepting our shortcomings and assuring the world a fair and just investigation.

I believed that by doing this, we can show to the victim's family our sincerity in searching for the truth.