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'Insulting' letter damaged RP-HK ties, says Miriam


The "insulting" letter that President Benigno Aquino III received from the Hong Kong government over the Aug. 23 hostage tragedy damaged the country’s ties with the special administrative region of China, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said Sunday. In an interview on radio dzBB, Santiago said that the Philippines did its part, officially taking full responsibility for the incident. An insulting letter was not necessary, she added. An insult to the Philippine president was an insult to Filipinos. "The relations with China's administrative director of Hong Kong [referring to the region’s chief executive Donald Tsang] ang may lamat [is cracked]," Santiago said. The senator, who is on leave for health reasons, said she will file a resolution expressing the point that Manila accepted full responsibility [for the Aug. 23 incident] and exhausted [all possible] remedies. President Aquino reportedly received the letter in the immediate aftermath of the Aug. 23 incident at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, where eight Hong Kong tourists and the hostage-taker, a former senior inspector of the Manila Police District, were killed and seven other Hong Kongers were injured. It is still unknown who penned the letter, with Tsang denying he wrote it. In a question and answer session with a media panel on Thursday, Aquino said the letter addressed to him contained "very minute details of what we are supposed to do." He refused to elaborate. The Aquino administration and police authorities were criticized for the bungled rescue operations that capped the 11-hour drama that was broadcast live on radio and television. Senior Police Inspector Rolando Mendoza, who was dismissed in connection with an extortion and robbery case before the Ombudsman, demanded that he be reinstated immediately. Foreign relations protocol Santiago, an international law expert, told dzBB that the Hong Kong government's letter violated diplomatic protocol. Echoing the point of political analyst Clarito Carlos, Santiago said that Aquino carries a higher stature than Tsang, who only heads an administrative region and not a nation. The senator added that only Chinese President Hu Jintao has the authority to call or write Mr. Aquino on such matters. "Dapat sumulat sa Secretary of Foreign Affairs, dahil mga pinuno lang ng bansa ang pwedeng sumulat sa isa't-isa, (It should have been written to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, because only heads of states can write to each other)," said Santiago. The Philippine government has been careful in dealing with Hong Kong authorities as there are about 120,000 overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong, and tourists from the region contribute to the Philippine travel industry. Manila is also trying to maintain good diplomatic relations with China, with which the country has developed significant trade, investment, and tourism ties. China is also challenging America to become the dominant superpower of the future. —VS/HS, GMANews.TV

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