Aquino admin criticized for treatment of hostage victims

The Aquino administration remains “inefficient" a year after the Manila hostage tragedy that left eight Hong Kong nationals killed, opposition lawmakers said Wednesday. House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman criticized President Benigno Aquino III for refusing to apologize for the bungled rescue of the tourists, which happened less than two months after he formally took office. “Everybody knows that there was a fiasco in the rescue operations. The apology will be limited to that fact that there was inefficiency in the rescue operations and it is not admitting any culpability attributable to the entire nation," Lagman said at a press briefing. He added that just like the police during the hostage crisis, the Aquino government failed to “take out the culprits" responsible for the bungled rescue despite having a “clear shot" at them. Deputy Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, meanwhile, said Aquino should have “softened" its treatment of the relatives of the hostage tragedy’s victims. “Palagay ko we should have really bended policies on this, kasi talaga namang kawawa ‘yung mga nakamatay at mga naka-survive," he said at the same press briefing. Aquino on Tuesday refused to apologize for the hostage tragedy, which happened in August 23 last year, saying it was the act of a single man, disgruntled police officer Rolando Mendoza. Mendoza was killed after he took a busload of Hong Kong tourists hostage for 11 hours near the historic Quirino Grandstand in Manila last year. The incident led to the death of eight hostages, all at Mendoza’s hands. The President made this statement after survivors and family members of the hostage tragedy’s victims flew to Manila to demand an apology and compensation from the Philippine government. Insensitive Deputy Minority Leader Milagros Magsaysay, for her part, criticized presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda’s refusal to welcome the survivors and the victims’ families at the Malacañang Palace. “I found a little disappointing the statement of the President that the hostage survivors and their families are not going to be welcome in Malacañang. Para sa akin, it was a little insensitive on the part of the spokesperson," she said at the press briefing. She added that the Palace official “incited the anger" of the victims of the hostage tragedy instead of commiserating with and apologizing to them. “These people are already suffering and in pain and you will say that they are not welcome to the Palace... Ang nangyari, instead of dousing the pain, parang inincite pa nila yung pain, which I found insensitive," she said. Lagman meanwhile said that Lacierda should “not only talk from his vocal cords but from his cerebrum" the next time the Palace official speaks of matters that can affect foreign relations. The opposition lawmakers also called on Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to make sure that persons liable for the hostage fiasco will be punished. — KBK, GMA News