Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras: Bearing gift. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino on Tuesday sent a senior Palace official to Hong Kong in hopes of ironing out the unresolved issues in the 2010 hostage crisis in Manila involving a group of Hong Kong tourists, and to present a token cash gift to one of the victims who is in need of surgery.
In a joint statement, the Philippines and Hong Kong on Tuesday said Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras flew Tuesday to the former British colony and met with Edward Yau, the director of the Hong Kong Chief Executive’s Office and TK Lai, the city’s Secretary for Security.
The officials held “in-depth and constructive exchanges” during the meeting, the statement said, during which Almendras updated the Hong Kong government “on the progress made in finding a satisfactory response” to the city’s several demands in relation to the hostage-taking, including a state apology and full compensation for the victims.
Almendras, who flew to Hong Kong in the midst of a massive typhoon relief operation in the Eastern Visayas, also gave some cash assistance to Yik Siu Ling, one the victims who needed additional surgery for the wounds she sustained in the Aug. 23, 2010, incident.
“President Aquino, having heard of the urgent need of Ms Yik Siu Ling for surgery, instructed Secretary Almendras to turn over to the [Hong Kong] government an additional token of solidarity to defray the cost of imminent surgeries,” the joint statement said.
The cash gift was contributed by a group of Filipino businessmen “as a manifestation of the Filipinos’ humane consideration of the plight of the victims and their families,” the statement said.
The Philippine government earlier provided “financial tokens of solidarity” to the victims and the relatives of the eight Hong Kong tourists who had died in the hostage-taking.
The hostage-taker, disgruntled police officer Rolando Mendoza, was known to have shot dead eight of his 22 hostages before he was taken down by police. Hong Kong has, however, blamed the bungled rescue attempt by Filipino policemen for the deaths.
‘Very concrete’ steps
The incident has driven a wedge between the Philippines and Hong Kong, once close partners in trade and people-to-people exchange, with the Chinese administrative region imposing sanctions on the Philippines’ for its unmet demands in relation to the hostage crisis.
In early November, Hong Kong legislators canceled Filipinos’ visa-free access to Hong Kong to pressure the Philippine government into giving in to their demands.
Earlier Tuesday in Hong Kong, Almendras said the Philippine government would announce in the next few days the “very concrete” steps it has taken to find a “final solution” and address the demands of the victims of the hostage-taking tragedy.
Almendras, a close friend of President Aquino, did not rule out a presidential apology to the families of the hostage victims.
“I know some of you here feel like ‘Why doesn’t the President just apologize to end this once and for all?’ If it were only that simple. If only the President could apologize and everything would be forgotten, including the China problem, I’m sure the President would do that,” Almendras told Filipino community leaders in Hong Kong.
“(But) it’s not just about the repercussions (of a presidential apology). There are many other things involved. But we’re not even saying that he won’t apologize,” he said.
“And let us not be angry if there’s an apology because our objective here is to find a win-win solution,” he added.
Almendras said the government had taken “very concrete” steps to find a solution to the impasse but that the “final solution” would be reached only if the victims and the Hong Kong government agreed.
“It won’t happen soon or in a day or two but I assure you quiet negotiations are ongoing,” he said.
Almendras declined to give details, saying only that the government had taken “positive steps” to address all of the four demands of the victims’ families.
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