Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Philippines sorry for Hong Kong deaths in 2010 hostage crisis

1306131
1306131
minus
plus

HONG KONG: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday formally apologised over the deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists in a 2010 Manila hostage crisis that soured ties with the Chinese territory.


The incident happened under previous president Benigno Aquino who had rejected Hong Kong’s demands for an apology because he said the hijacker caused the crisis.


However Duterte on Thursday said an apology to “the Chinese government and the people of China” was “only right” and necessary.


“From the bottom of my heart as the president of the Republic of the Philippines and in behalf of the people of the Philippines, may I apologise formally to you now,” Duterte said in a speech before the Filipino community in Hong Kong.


“We are sorry that the incident happened and as humanly possible, I would like to make this guarantee also that it will never, never happen again.”


Hong Kong had been infuriated by the Philippine government’s response to the incident, in which a disgraced former police officer hijacked a tour bus in protest at his sacking.


Day-long negotiations to release the hostages trapped on the bus failed and, with the drama being broadcast live around the world, Philippine security forces bungled a rescue attempt.


A deeply emotional row was resolved in 2014 after the Philippine government expressed “its most sorrowful regret and profound sympathy” but avoided a formal apology. An apology was instead issued by the Manila city government.


Duterte, 73, was elected in mid-2016 and had sought to improve his nation’s relations with Beijing despite a territorial row over the South China Sea as he courted investments and trade from the world’s second-largest economy.


He visited Hong Kong after participating in the Boao Forum — dubbed the Asian Davos — in China where he met with President Xi Jinping on Tuesday.


Thursday’s apology came as Duterte declared the Philippines’ “love” for China. “I hope this would go a long way to really assuage the feeling of the Chinese people and government,” Duterte said.


A small anti-Duterte demonstration had been held earlier in Hong Kong, home to around 190,000 Filipina domestic workers.


Around 50 people gathered near his hotel to chant slogans in protest at his war on drugs, which they said was a sham used to target activists and opponents.


4 Chinese arrested in drug raid: Meanwhile in Manila, Philippine anti-narcotics agents raided an illicit drug laboratory on Thursday and arrested four Chinese nationals and four Filipinos, acting on what the drug enforcement agency said was a tip from their Chinese counterparts.


The suspects were arrested in three separate locations after agents took control of an illegal laboratory that was capable of producing 25 kgs of methamphetamine daily, said Aaron Aquino, head of the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA).


It came two days after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte in China’s Hainan province and pledged support for his ferocious war on drugs, which has killed more than 4,000 people in the last 20 months.


Aquino said China’s National Narcotics Control Commission had been monitoring “drug chemists” flying in and out of the country since October 2017. — AFP/Reuters


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon