Duterte Apologizes to Hong Kong Over 2010 Manila Hostage Crisis, Noynoy Aquino Reacts

President Rodrigo Duterte apologized for the hostage-taking incident in Luneta, Manila back in 2010 that led to the death of 8 Hong Kong tourists and the hostage taker, dismissed police Sr. Inspector Rolando Mendoza. The president made his apology on Thursday, April 12 front of the nearly 2,000 members of the Filipino community in Hong Kong.

Loading...

“Let me, for the first time, the Chinese government and the people of China have always been waiting for this. There has been no official apology coming from the Philippines regarding that incident that happened in August 2010,” President Duterte said, referring to then-President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III who refused to apologize to Hong Kong.

“To the Chinese people who are here, from the bottom of my heart, as President of Republic of the Philippines, may I apologize formally to you now. We are sorry the incident happened, as humanly possible, I would like to guarantee this will never happen again. This will go along way to really assuage the feelings of the Chinese people.” He added.

Noynoy Aquino has just assumed his post as president when the Manila hostage tragedy happened. Mendoza, a disgruntled dismissed cop, hijacked a bus at the Quirino Grandstand. The said bus has 24 passengers, including 21 Hong Kong tourists. The whole incident was aired live on TV, including the shooting of 8 tourist and Mendoza.

Apparently, the incident has seriously harmed ties between the Philippines and Hong Kong. However, Noynoy Aquino had refused to apologize for the incident, saying the act of one hostage-taker should not be construed as the act of the entire nation. Hong Kong decided to cancel its visa-free entry for Philippine officials and diplomatic passport holders.

In 2014, former president Joseph Estrada apologized to Hong Kong on behalf of the Philippines. This is despite the fact that Alfredo Lim was the Manila mayor when the hostage crisis took place. On Friday, April 13, Noynoy Aquino released a statement, insisting that the Philippines should not apologize for the 2010 Manila hostage crisis.



“I humbly respect the decision of Mr. Duterte to apologize to Hong Kong for the incident. But again, I maintain myself not to say sorry to anyone. The whole world have watched the coverage, and it was clear that I and my administration did our best to control the situation. It was the media that provoked the shooting.” The former president said.

Contributed by Renato Pasayao