This paper is aimed at examining the Rizal Park hostage-taking incident from the lens of forensic linguistics that looks into crime management. The incident happened on August 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines when a tourist bus loaded with 20 Hong Kong nationals was hijacked by a disgruntled former officer of the Philippine National Police by the name of Rolando Mendoza.  Employing the DIAMOND model of Grubb et al. (2020), FBI’s Behavioral Change Stairway Model (BCSM), and Hammer’s (2007) S.A.F.E. model, the study analyzed the stages in the negotiation process employed by the negotiators, the relationship-building process and the communicative dynamics of the hostage-taking incident.  Findings revealed that the stages of negotiation in the DIAMOND model were not all carried out. Following the BCSM model, the negotiators were not able to build empathy with the hostage-taker. Communicative dynamics as reflected in the S.A.F.E. model was not likewise successful as pertinent information was not transmitted with maximum effectiveness. The poor handling of the incident and the failure of the negotiation led to the eventual death of innocent people, including the hostage-taker himself and the issuance by the Hong Kong government of a ‘black’ travel alert for the Philippines. It is hoped that with this study, a more effective and efficient way of managing crime incidents in the country can be carried out to avoid further disasters.

Keywords: language in crisis negotiation; hostage-taking; Manila hostage crisis; Rizal Park; crime management

Atkinson, S. E., Sandler, T. & Tschirhart, J. (1987, April). Terrorism in a bargaining framework. Journal of Law and Economics 30, (1). Retrieved URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00222186%28198704%2930%3A1%3C1%3ATIABF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Z

Brandt, P. T. George, J. & Sandler, T. (2016). Why concessions should not be made to terrorist kidnappers. European Journal of Political Economy 44, 41-52.

Brandt, P. T. & Sandler, T. (2009). Hostage taking: Understanding terrorism event dynamics. Journal of Policy Modeling 31, 758–778.

Cooper, H.H.A. (1981). Hostage-takers. Office of Justice Programs. Elements of Crimes for the ICC, Definition of the taking of hostages as a war crime (ICC Statute, Article 8(2)(a)(viii) and (c)(iii)).

Esmaquel II, P. (2013, October 24). DFA on Erap’s HK apology. Aquino’s stand prevails. Rappler.

Grubb, A. R., Brown, S. J., Hall, P., & Bowen, E. (2020). From deployment to debriefing: Introducing the D.I.A.M.O.N.D. model of hostage and crisis negotiation. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, 22 (1), 953-976.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2019.1677229

Gutierrez, N. (2014, April 23). Hong Kong, Philippines resolve hostage crisis issue. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/nation/56186-hong-kong-philippines-reach-hostage-crisis-resolution/

Hammer, M. R. (2007). Saving lives: The S.A.F.E. model for negotiating hostage and crisis incidents. Praeger Publishing.

Hammer, M. (2008, November). The SAFE Model of Negotiating Critical Incidents. In IACM 21st Annual Conference Paper. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1298603

Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC). (2010). First Report of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee on the August 23, 2010 Rizal Park Hostage-taking Incident: Sequence of Events, Evaluation and Recommendations.

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2010/09/17/first-report-of-the-iirc-on-the-rizal-park-hostage-taking-incident/

International Convention against the taking of hostages. Adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 17 December 1979. https://treaties.un.org/doc/db/terrorism/english-18-5.pdf

Kim, W. & Sandler, T. (2021). Duration and competing-risks determinants of terrorist hostage-taking incidents. European Journal of Political Economy. North-Holland.

Li, G. (2014, April 23). Hong Kong and Philippines settle spat over 2010 bus siege deaths. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-philippines-idUSBREA3M0ZA20140423

Mcmains, M., & Mullins, W. (2013). Crisis Management: Hostage Dynamics. In Crisis Negotiations (5th ed.). Routledge.

Metila, R. A. (2013). A discourse analysis of news headlines: Diverse framings for a hostage taking event. Asian Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 2 (2), 71-78.

Molé, D. M., & Cohen, R. G. (2016). Hostage Taking. In Ciottone's Disaster Medicine. Elsevier, 430-433.PNP Hostage Negotiation Handbook. (2011). Philippine National Police.

https://pnppro1.org/Downloads/Hostage%20Negotiation%20Handbook.pdf

Prevention and Coping Strategies: Kidnapping, hostage taking, extortion, attacks. European Network of Advisory Teams (EUNAT). Federal Criminal Police Office.

Ranada, P. (2018, April 12). Duterte apologizes to Hong Kong for 2010 hostage crisis. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/nation/200134-philippines-duterte-apology-hong-kong-2010-hostage-crisis/

Sandler, T. & Scott, J. L. (1987, March 1). Terrorist success in hostage-taking incidents: An empirical study. Retrieved https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002787031001003 on 23 October 2021.

Schmid, A. P. (2021, July) (Ed.). Prevention of kidnappings and hostage-takings by terrorists. In A.P. Schmid Handbook of Terrorism Prevention and Preparedness. ICCT Press Publication.

Tillyer, M. S., Tillyer, R. & Kelsay, J. (2015). The nature and influence of the victim-offender relationship in kidnapping incidents. Journal of Criminal Justice 43, 377-385.

Vecchi, G. M., Van Hasselt, V. B., & Romano, S. J. (2005). Crisis (hostage) negotiation: Current strategies and issues in high-risk conflict resolution. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 10 (5), 533-551.

Woodhouse, A. (2014, January 29). Hong Kong imposes sanctions on Philippines over 2010 hostage deaths. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-philippines-idUSBREA0S0RF20140129