China condemns draping of RP flag over hostage taker's coffin

(Updated 3 p.m.) The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines on Friday strongly condemned the draping of the Philippine flag over the coffin of dismissed police inspector Rolando Mendoza who killed eight Hong Kong tourists whom he held hostage in a bus in Manila on Monday. In a statement, the Chinese embassy said a "cold-blooded" hostage-taker like Mendoza does not deserve to have the Philippine flag placed over his coffin. "The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines condemns the brutality of the criminal and expresses its strong indignation over this irritating act," said the statement. "The person who deserves a national flag at funeral should be someone of heroism, decency and integrity, and not someone who inflicts atrocity on innocent lives. This is nothing but a smear on the dignity of the Philippine national flag," it said. In a phone interview with GMANews.TV, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang said the placing of the Philippine flag was done by Mendoza's family and not by the Philippine government. "This was an act of the family," Carandang said. "Nobody from the government has ordered that." "We understand the concern of the Chinese government but we [did not approve of] that," Carandang added. Mendoza's family GMA News' John Consulta said Mendoza's family draped the Philippine flag over slain hostage taker's coffin on Thursday in Batangas. In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said, "There are rules and protocol with respect to the manner of display of the Philippine flag and we do not consider the display of the Philippine flag in this particular instance as conforming with existing rules." On Monday, Mendoza hijacked a tourist bus carrying 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos in front of the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. The hostage drama turned bloody when the hostage-taker reportedly became angry after seeing his brother being arrested on a live television broadcast of the incident. The bus driver escaped and shouted as he ran that everyone on the bus was already dead. It was then that the police launched an assault on the bus. At the end of the 11-hour hostage crisis, Mendoza and eight tourists from Hong Kong were found dead. The Aquino administration's handling of the crisis has drawn much criticism locally and abroad, with experts and analysts pointing out that police who handled the incident appeared to be poorly trained and equipped. The media's live coverage of the incident has also been widely criticized. — RSJ/VVP, GMANews.TV