An apology for bungled hostage handling?

They came for our understanding and sympathy – those relatives of the Hong Kong tourists who were killed in a hostage crisis last year. Their plea: Punishment for those who mishandled the crisis and an apology from the government.

 Did we give in to these requests? Yes and no. As far as disciplining the bunglers was concerned, some administrative cases have been filed, but no one has been given sanctions to date. Criminal cases? The De Lima Committee recommended these, but Malacañang refused to implement this course of action for one reason or another. One reason could be the closeness of the people concerned to the President. Some were, it was rumored, members of KKK, and you know what this stands for.

 Apology from the government was also sought, but Malacañang through its spokesman, said this has been done for several occasions. Unofficial apology, this was, given by President Aquino himself in the form of condolence statements to the victims’ families on August 25, 2010. Apparently, these people were not satisfied. It was an official government apology they wanted.

 The problem is that Malacañang is not keen about issuing such apology. Perhaps, the President feels that to give one would be equivalent to an open admission of the government’s failure to do everything it could to prevent loss of lives in that hostage situation. Yet it is a public knowledge that serious lapses were indeed committed in managing that happening. In fact, Secretary De Lima’s fact finding body, the Joint Incident Investigation and Review Committee, disclosed that eight errors were committed. Among these was the failure to activate the crisis management committee, and more serious was the absence of leadership which created a decision-making vacuum during the critical minutes. That leadership was supposed to be exercised by the mayor of Manila and the PNP superintendent but both were out taking meals at the very moment when their presence was needed. On the broader scale, leadership was also supposed to be wielded by President Aquino himself, but he could not be contacted while the hostage event was unfolding. No less than Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said that he tried to call PNoy at the critical moments but failed to get in touch with the latter.

 What would have been the scenario had President Aquino placed himself on top of the situation in that critical life-and-death drama? It’s anybody’s guess, but one thing is certain: Our handling of the crisis would not have been as chaotic as it was. And perhaps, loss of lives could have been avoided.

 Now these sorrowing kin have come to seek our sympathy and compassion. They want us to feel the gravity of their loss. And they need no less than the highest official of this country to hear their story and feel their pain, hoping perhaps that he would take some measures to address their concerns.

 Unfortunately, the President was not in the mood to interact with the visitors personally and probably express his sympathy. Most likely, he felt that being an unofficial group (although one of them was a councilman) it was enough that a lower official such as Secretary De Lima would meet with them and listen to their problems.

 Or perhaps the President just didn’t care about mending our shattered relationship with the Hong Kong government. Restoring normalcy with it is critical because we have tens of thousands of OFW’s in that former British colony and many thousands more in other cities in China. More than this is our need for an expanded trade relation with that country as part of our socio-economic initiative.

But even more significant is the gesture that we care. Christians as we are, we believe that we are all brothers and sisters under the fatherhood of God. As such, we believe with the poet who says that no man is an island, that each of us belongs to the larger continent of humanity, and that every man’s death diminishes us for are part of mankind.