RP officials to meet with envoys in wake of hostage crisis

The Philippine government will meet with the diplomatic corps to assure them that the country is still a safe destination despite last Monday’s 11-hour hostage-taking incident that resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people, most of them tourists from Hong Kong. President Benigno Aquino III, members of his Cabinet, and other officials will meet with ambassadors from other countries at a still unspecified date to tell them there is no need to issue a travel ban to the Philippines like what Hong Kong did. “This is for the purpose of briefing the diplomatic corps on what happened, for those who don’t know, and also to assure them that, in light of advisory that we got from Hong Kong, to assure them that such advisories are not needed for now," said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda at a press conference Tuesday. Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang said the Philippine government is concerned about the hostage-taking incident’s impact on tourism, noting reports that several tourists from Hong Kong have canceled their flights to the country.

“We believe that if we explain what happened and what we’re doing to the diplomatic corps, we’ll have more of an understanding and perhaps [they’ll] be kinder when they issue travel advisories," Carandang said. Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim has admitted that there is much work to be done to rebuild the Philippines’ image after Monday’s hostage crisis in Manila. Lim, who noted that around 120,000 tourists from Hong Kong visit the Philippines every year, said there is a need to stress to the foreign community that what happened Monday was an isolated incident. The hostage-taker, Rolando Mendoza, a dismissed policeman with a rank of senior inspector, was killed in a nighttime assault by SWAT team members after almost 11 hours of tense negotiations. His demand was for him to be reinstated into the service. Mendoza, a be-medaled officer, was fired as chief of the Manila Police’s Mobile Patrol Unit in 2008 after he was charged with robbery and extortion. He was scheduled to retire on January next year. The incident occurred near the Quirino Grandstand at the historical Luneta Park inside a tourist bus. - KBK, GMANews.TV