MANILA, Philippines — Ipinakita lamang ni Pangulong Duterte ang statemanship nito sa paghingi ng tawad sa madugong hostage taking sa Luneta na ikinasawi ng 8 Hong Kong nationals noong Agosto 23, 2010.
“We laud President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to apologize for the bloody hostage taking. This shows statesmanship of the highest caliber,” pahayag ni dating Manila Mayor at ngayon ay Buhay partylist Rep. Lito Atienza.
Sinabi ni Atienza na dahilan sa kabiguan ng dating administrasyon na humingi ng tawad sa insidente ay nagdurusa at dumanas ng diskriminasyon ang mga Pinoy na naninirahan at nagtatrabaho sa Hong Kong bunga ng epekto ng nangyaring krisis.
“It takes much more than arrogant leadership to deal with the effects of such a high profile incident which unfolded before world media. Something that could have easily been averted if only the national and local leadership in Manila at that time focused on admitting their fault in the mismanaged and botched rescue operations which resulted in eight deaths,” punto ng solon.
Ang madugong hostage sa Maynila ay kagagawan ng nasibak na pulis ng Manila Police District na si dating Sr. Inspector Rolando Mendoza na desperado sa pagnanais makabalik sa serbisyo kaya hinostage ang isang tourist bus sa Rizal Park na humantong sa pagkasawi ng mga dayuhan.
“Eight years after it happened, the Hongkong community witnessed firsthand the practical and sensitive leadership of someone like President Duterte – who apologized in behalf of the Philippine government. As witnessed by thousands of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), everyone present was shedding tears,” ani Atienza.
“This is a good example of the kind of leadership that we Filipinos deserve,” dagdag pa ng Kongresista.