RESPECTED MANILA STANDARD COLUMNISTS HAIL MAYOR JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADAS STEPS TO HEAL RIFT WITH HONG KONG OVER 2009 LUNETA HOSTAGE TRAGEDY (Excerpt from the column Lowdown by Mr. Jojo Robles) “Sorry,” despite what Elton John says, isn’t the hardest word. It can actually work wonders. Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada apologized this week to the families of victims of the bloody 2010 hostage-taking at Rizal Park and his apology was accepted. But Malacañang, which has stuck to President Noynoy Aquino’s no-apology policy, could not allow Erap to take all the credit, so it had to say that it had been working to settle the issue long before Estrada arrived in Hong Kong. Cabinet Secretary Jose Almendras, whose presence with Erap in Hong Kong was even initially denied by one Malacañang spokesman (only to be affirmed by another) had to call a press conference yesterday to claim some of the credit. Almendras said he signed a heretofore unknown agreement settling the dispute between Hong Kong and Manila as early as two weeks ago. Of course, if Estrada had not heaped praise on himself for apologizing, we would probably never heard of Almendras’ exploits. Then again, if only Aquino had apologized four years ago, right after the Hong Kong tourists were killed by a former Manila cop who went postal, then none of this would have even been necessary. ------------------------------------------------- (Excerpt from the column To the Point by Mr. Neil Jurado) It was a masterstroke on the part of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada. I am talking about his move that ended the stalemate between Hong Kong and the Philippines as a result of the botched rescue operations during the Luneta hostage crisis of August 2010. Eight Hong Kong toursts were killed. The presence of Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras and Philippine National Police Chief Alan Purisma in the meeting with Special Administrative Region (SAR) officials also showed that the effort to mollify the feelings of SAR officials and the victims’ families came from both the Manila and the national government. With the offer of apology, the HK$20 million compensation and the assurance that Hong Kong tourists and businessmen will get ample protection, SAR officials lifted sanctions on Philippine officials and members of the diplomatic corps traveling to the former Crown colony. Obviously, the compensation given to the survivors and the kin of those killed in that botched hostage crisis came from the national government. The Manila government could not afford it; it was bankrupt when Erap took over. If there’s anything significant in the return of normal relations between Hong Kong and the Philippines, it is that it ended fears that the 160,000 or more OFWs in Hongkong would be affected. Indeed, cooperation between the national and local government can achieve many things. To Estrada, I say keep up the good work.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 05:45:49 +0000
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