The death toll in the Manila hostage crisis rose to 10 on Tuesday, police reported even as President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino declared Wednesday as a “” for the victims of what is now called as the “Luneta bloodbath.”
Citing a Malacanang announcement, ANC News reported that the President issued the declaration in response to a similar action taken by the Hong Kong autonomous government for a national day of mourning in honor of nine of its residents who perished in the bloodbath at the hands of the hostage taker.
Like in Hong Kong, Malacanang said the Aquino declaration means that the national flag would be flown at half mast starting starting Wednesday.
Meanwhile, police said the death toll increased to 10 with the death of a woman hostage, identified only as “Doris,” who succumbed to injuries at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in suburban Pasay City, Metro Manila.
Police said the tenth fatality is the hostage taker himself former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza of the Manila Police District, who was dismissed from the service in 2009 for alleged robbery-extortion and grave abuse of authority.
At the same time, Aquino and other concerned officials moved to repair the image of the Philippines which has been badly damaged abroad by the hostage crisis amid charges of alleged police mishandling of the incident, which resulted in the killing of the nine Hong Kong residents who were in Manila for a four-day visit.
Malacanang said Aquino ordered the dispatch of a high-level delegation to give a full briefing to Donald Tsang, the Hong Kong chief executive, on the incident and what the Philippine government is doing to prevent a repetition of the crisis.
Hong Kong and five other countries have issued travel advisories against their citizens going to the Philippines.
In line with the advisory, many Hong Kong residents have reportedly cut short their visit to the country and returned home on special flights arranged by their government.
Secretary Alberto Lim of the Department of Tourism on Tuesday admitted that much work lies ahead to rebuild the country’s image abroad.
In Hong Kong alone, Lim cited data showing that the country plays host to about 120,000 Hong Kong visitors annually, aside from China mainland which has become a major source of tourists.
Secretary Jesse Robredo of the Department of Interior and Local Government also revealed the government is seriously studying proposals to implement rules, particularly on live media coverage of sensitive incidents like the Luneta hostage crisis.
Robredo noted that such coverage, carried live on radio and TV and beamed worldwide, has deprived the police of the “element of surprise” in dealing with the hostage-taker.
“We must get media’s cooperation so police can have a leeway,” Robredo explained in an interview with the Metro Manila-based radio station DwIZ. “In the Monday hostage-taking, police did not get such leeway from media.”
He stressed that in such cases, the safety of the hostages is paramount and needs utmost attention from the police and media, especially when negotiations are ongoing for their release.
Robredo disclosed that three of the survivors he had interviewed told him they noticed Mendoza became agitated after seeing on the TV set installed inside the tourist bus of what was happening on the ground outside.
Loading ...
Reader’s Views