Hong Kong Rally Is Held to Protest at Deaths in Manila Tourist Bus Siege
Tens of thousands of Hong Kong citizens marched peacefully today to demand a transparent investigation into the deaths of eight of the city’s residents in a tour-bus siege in Manila.
The protest attracted 80,000 participants, said one of the organizers, Tam Yiu Chung, who chairs local political party the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. Police didn’t immediately give an estimate of numbers.
The Hong Kong tourists were shot dead in Manila on Aug. 23 after a former Philippine police officer seized the bus, taking its passengers hostage. The authorities’ handling of the 12-hour standoff, which was broadcast live on television, has been criticized by Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang.
“The Philippine government mishandled it from start to finish and still haven’t taken any responsibility,” said Sharon Chan, 35, a marketing executive who joined the march.
Many of the protesters wept as they fell silent for three minutes in Victoria Park, where they gathered before marching to the Legislative Council chambers in the downtown Central district. Most tied yellow ribbons to their wrists.
“The Philippine police didn’t save the hostages,” said Roman Wong, a 20-year-old student. “We want them to investigate what happened.”
Filipino Vigil
Earlier, about 1,200 migrant Filipino workers gathered in Central district to mourn the killings, said Eman Villanueva, secretary-general of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, an alliance of Filipino migrant groups in the city. Filipinos agreed their government had mishandled the matter and should determine who was responsible, Villanueva said by telephone.
At least five Hong Kong police officers flew to Manila yesterday to conduct their own forensic examination of the bus, Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., a spokesman for the Philippine National Police, told reporters today. The Hong Kong police will begin work tomorrow and their findings will be compared with those of the Philippine authorities, Cruz said.
“The Filipino community in Hong Kong actually shares the same sentiments of the Hong Kong people,” Villanueva said. “We are also angry and unhappy with the way the Philippines government handled the hostage incident.”
Aquino Urges Restraint
Filipinos represent the largest foreign national group in Hong Kong, according to a 2006 census that counted 115,349 of them. The government of Philippine President Benigno Aquino appealed to the Hong Kong people to refrain from taking out their anger on Filipinos.
Jasylyn Cadiz, a 53-year-old Filipino who has lived in Hong Kong for 14 years, said “We feel very sorry for those tourists who died. Most employers in Hong Kong are good and know it’s not our fault.”
The Philippine community also wants the government in Manila to conduct a thorough investigation and determine who was responsible for the deaths, Villanueva said. “As long as there’s no indication that justice will be served, the anger and frustration of the Hong Kong people will escalate,” he said.
Hong Kong people, by the tens of thousands, have been signing condolence books and posting online messages, some of outrage, since the incident. The siege ended after a sniper killed the gunman.
In a statement yesterday, Tsang said he asked the Philippine president to investigate the incident “thoroughly and professionally.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Debra Mao in Hong Kong at dmao5@bloomberg.net
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