BY ELLEN TORDESILLAS
PRESIDENT Aquino Tuesday called up Donald Tsang, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, to personally express his condolences to the families of eight Hong Kong residents who died Monday in Manila after they were held hostage by a dismissed policeman while on a sightseeing tour.
Malacañang also said it will be sending a high-level delegation to Hong Kong to meet with Tsang, who had demanded a “full account” of Monday’s tragedy.
Hong Kong newspapers carried Tsang’s statement saying had been trying to contact Aquino on Monday “since 4 p.m. ..but all efforts failed.” He said the way the Aquino government handled the hostage situation was “regrettable” and “disappointing.”
Told about Tsang’s statement, Aquino said he did not know about Tsang’s call and that nobody told him about it.
Inquiries about the incident revealed that while the hostage situation was going on, Aquino was closely monitoring it and was talking with police authorities constantly. He told his staff that he wouldn’t be taking any call unless it was extremely important.
When Tsang called, the one who took the call didn’t know who Tsang is. Following the instruction, the staff member did not pass on the call to Aquino.
Also on Tuesday, Aquino received Chinese Ambassasador Liu Jianchao. He also declared Aug. 25, 2010 as National Day of Mourning in solidarity with the people of Hong Kong for Monday’s tragedy.
Philippine Consul General in Hongkong Claro Cristobal reported an “outpouring of dismay and protests” over the botched hostage situation in Manila.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila issued a statement that China’s foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, was in contact with his Philippine counterpart, Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, over the phone last Monday during the hostage crisis.
The statement said: “ Minister Yang said that the Chinese Government was deeply shocked by the incident, expressed grave condolences to the victimized Hong Kong compatriots and strongly condemned the atrocity by the hostage-taker against innocent tourists. The Chinese side has urged the Philippine side to launch a thorough investigation, provide detailed report to the Chinese side, exert the utmost to save the injured and properly deal with the aftermath of the incident.”
Last Monday morning, a dismissed police officer, former Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, commandeered a tourist bus and took the passengers, 22 Hongkong tourists and three Filipino tour agency employees hostage, to demand his reinstatement to service.
The situation took a turn for the worse when police arrested his brother, SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza, allegedly for being an accessory to the ongoing hostage-taking.
In its assessment, the Philippine National Police admitted lapses including, among others, poor handling of the hostage negotiation; side issues and events that further agitated the hostage-taker; inadequate capability, skills, equipment and planning of the assault team; improper crowd control, and inadequate training and competence of assault team leader; and noncompliance with media relations procedures in hostage situations.