MANILA -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region issued Monday a travel advisory for their residents against all travels to the Philippines following a 12-hour hostage stand-off on a hijacked bus that ended in bloodshed Monday.
As of this posting, seven Chinese tourists who were onboard the hijacked tourist bus were confirmed dead, along with the disgruntled ex-policeman who seized the bus in a bid to get his job back.
The East Asia market composed of China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan is Metro Manila's major source in the tourism market that accounted for 41.78 percent of its total visitors.
Metro Manila is the leading destination with a share of 23.2 percent for 848, 518 tourists staying in accommodation facilities, report from the tourism department stated.
The same report said tourist volume in the country's major destinations from January to May 2010 totalled to 3.65 million.
But despite the travel advisory, Malacañang is optimistic that the hostage crisis would have little effect in the country's tourism industry and that foreign investors would understand that the incident is not reflective of the actual situation in the entire country.
Palace spokesman Sonny Coloma said the important thing for Malacañang was the safety of the hostages.
Coloma said the hostage-taker should have remembered to honor and respect the lives of the people he held, citing they are visiting friends and had nothing to do with his situation.
"We believe our countrymen and foreign investors and our friends in the neighboring countries will see this incident in the proper perspective and they will appreciate that this is an isolated incident," he said.
Coloma said several personalities, including Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, were immediately on the site to lend assistance.
Commission on Human Rights chairperson Cecilia "Coco" Quisumbing and Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos also arrived in the area after learning of the hostage situation perpetrated by dismissed Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza.
Coloma, however, admitted that the action of Mendoza was not surprising after he was dismissed from service.
Coloma said President Benigno Aquino III is aware of the incident but has left the negotiations to the concerned authorities.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila, on the other hand, said Philippine authorities must take appropriate actions in the aftermath of the hostage drama that gripped Manila Monday.
In a phone interview, Chinese Embassy in Manila spokesman Ethan Sun said the matter should not just be forgotten immediately.
"The hostage situation will have to be dealt with in an appropriate and timely manner," said Sun.
The Chinese embassy had sent a working group to the Quirino Grandstand in Manila to help in addressing the matter and secure its nationals safely.
"We have sent a working group on the ground that will decide and cooperate with the Philippine police. They are trying to do the best that they can to release all hostages," Sun said.
Lapses
Meanwhile, a former member of Manila's Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) team and now a trial court judge noted some lapses in the handling of the hostage crisis.
Judge Jimmy Santiago said the crisis management team failed to consider that the tourist bus has a television inside and developments outside the vehicle was being monitored by the hostage-taker.
Santiago said gunshots inside the bus were noted after a television footage showing the hostage-taker's brother and some relatives being arrested by the police for their alleged participation in the hostage crisis.
Another lapse, Santiago noted was the assault made by policemen and the throwing of the teargas without the confirmation on the real status of the hostages inside.
Policemen simply relied on the statement of the bus driver who was able to escape from the hijacked bus.
He said disaster preparedness and crisis management exercises should be done periodically so policemen are accustomed in handling situations.
Santiago handled 20 hostage crisis situations and six of which the hostage-taker was killed.
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Etta Rosales said the Philippine government should apologize to the Hong Kong government for the death of its citizens, while Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri urged for a Senate probe on the hostage taking.
Palace’s response
President Aquino, in his press briefing late Monday, vowed for a thorough investigation of everything that have transpired Monday.
He also said his government will provide funds for more trainings, as well as for acquiring new and better equipments for the country’s security forces.
“We will cooperate with all the agents of the aggrieved party to repair as fast as possible the damaged relations between our countries,” Aquino said.
The President also said the government has already apologized to the Hong Kong government for failing to secure the welfare of some of the hostages.
The Palace will also be meeting with the media to come up with guidelines on how to handle such situation.
“So we will be talking to you and will come up with terms and conditions that will help each of us achieve our objectives,” the President said.
President Aquino said the non-stop coverage of the media provided the suspect all the developments affecting his area.
“The hostage-taker might even have a bird’s eye view of the situation, which did not help the security forces in carrying out the mission,” he said.
He added actual movement of personnel to areas where they can effect a successful assault was severely hampered because of the live coverage.
The President also quipped that the media should balance the right of the people to know considering also the kind of information to divulge that will not eventually affect the situation of the people directly involved.
Aquino also vowed to further investigate on the allegations the suspect has made. (Jill Beltran/Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)