Cabaero: Still angry

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

ON AUG. 23 last year, people were glued to their television sets as the bus-hijacking incident unfolded at the Quirino Grandstand near the Luneta Park in Manila.

When night fell, eight tourists from Hong Kong were dead, victims in the hostage-taking that unfolded before thousands of television viewers who witnessed every minute of the crisis through live news coverage.

The hostage-taker was dismissed police officer Rolando Mendoza, who lost his job after he was involved in an extortion case. He resorted to the bus-hijacking to call attention to his case and to demand his reinstatement as a police officer. Mendoza was killed in the rescue attempt.

The incident became an international embarrassment for the Philippine Government and then newly elected President Benigno Aquino III, and soured ties with Hong Kong and China.

Issues that came out from the hostage-taking were government’s failure to secure the tourists, the capability of police forces to rescue hostages, the poor handling of the crisis by government, media’s interference in police action, a drastic reduction in tourist arrivals and cases of discrimination for Filipinos visiting Hong Kong or China.

Emotions have been calmed with the passing of a year, but maybe not for the families of those who died and the survivors who still bear the scars of their Manila visit.

They have every right to bring back to the Filipino consciousness their loss and their complaint that justice has not yet been served.

A Sun.Star website report at www.sunstar.com.ph said families and survivors of the hostage crisis arrived in Manila Monday to “personally express to the President their concerns regarding their cases.” One survivor was quoted as saying “no compensation can make good the loss of life.”

Another said, “We came back because we demand justice. We want to let the Philippine government know we are still angry.” Still another victim said, “It took a lot of pain to come back here one year after the tragedy. We were wrong to trust the government of the Philippines.”

They are hoping their clamor for justice will be discussed when President Aquino makes a state visit to China from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3.

Aquino had apologized for the incident and some families have already accepted a fund put up by the private sector to show solidarity with the victims and their families. As to corrective actions taken, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda had said officials involved have been punished and removed from their positions.

Aquino is expected to discuss with Chinese President Hu Jintao during his state visit largely trade and economic issues. The incident of a year ago was not mentioned in early reports about the coming state visit.

But more than the Hong Kong victims’ right to demand an accounting of lessons, it is for the Filipinos to require of government that corrections to the systems and procedures be made. We too are angry.

The wounds from the hostage crisis run deep and the cure is not in the passing of time or in an apology or payment. It is in the measures taken to ensure such an incident and outcome will not be repeated.

(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)