MANILA: Relatives of eight Hong Kong tourists killed in a Philippine bus hostage fiasco cried out for justice as they returned to the site of the slaughter Tuesday for an emotional one-year anniversary ceremony.
Buddhist monks lit incense and offered food and drinks on a makeshift altar on the pavement of Manila's Rizal Park, where the hijacked bus stood for 11 hours before a bungled rescue attempt led to the bloodbath.
Last year's chaos was replaced by a peaceful atmosphere, the mournful hymns and chants of the monks broken only by the rapid shutter clicks from the cameras of a Hong Kong press contingent.
"We will never forget the pain," said Tse Chi Kin, whose brother Masa Tse Ting-chunn was the tour guide on the bus and was among those slain.
He said the family came back to seek some kind of closure, but that he felt this attempt had failed after President Benigno Aquino rejected an appeal to meet with them and personally apologise.
"It has been one year, but we have not received any apology -- not an email, not a letter, not even a call," he sobbed.
Aquino, who skipped the ceremony, reiterated his regret over the tragedy, but ruled out an apology for an attack he said could not have been stopped.
"An apology connotes that the state did them grievous harm. I don't think that is correct," he told reporters after giving a speech at a naval event a block away from where the mourners had gathered.
"We sympathise with them, we really wished it did not happen. But in the same token that in Norway, there was this tragedy that could not be prevented because of a lone solitary deranged gunman."
The Philippine hostage taker, Roland Mendoza, was a decorated Manila police officer sacked over corruption allegations, who seized the bus in a crazed bid to be reinstated.
Aquino's Norway reference related to far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage in the country in July.
But Manila survivor Lee Ying Cheum, who said she was still recovering from deep mental trauma, insisted that Philippine authorities mishandled the crisis.
"We trusted the government to save us. We were wrong," Lee said.
As the drama unfolded live on television a year ago, police stormed the vehicle and shot Mendoza dead, but eight hostages also died during the rescue attempt.
The incident triggered public outrage in Hong Kong, which has since maintained a travel advisory on the Philippines.
Aquino ordered an investigation into the incident, but was criticised after only minor punishments were handed out to four policemen, while senior officials accused of incompetence escaped without sanction.
Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang wrote on his blog on the one-year anniversary that there should be "truth and justice" for the victims and their families.
"I have again asked Beijing to convey Hong Kong's request to the Philippines...to urge Manila to console the survivors and the victims' families, to investigate the tragedy and punish those responsible," he said.
As the the relatives left after the ceremony Tuesday, one of the police negotiators involved in last year's drama walked to the altar and offered a prayer.
"I feel regret. I needed to say sorry to them (the victims)," Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador said.
"We did not fully fulfil our job. We should have done better."
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.