After more than three years of asking the Aquino administration to officially and publicly apologize for its bungled handling of a hostage situation at the Quirino Grandstand in August of 2010 that left eight people dead, seven of them tourists from the former Crown colony, it has finally made good its threat to impose sanctions. Starting February 5, Philippine government officials are required to apply for visas should they wish to travel to Hong Kong. Ordinary travelers are not covered by the sanction. At least not yet.
Obviously all those talks held between the Palace and Hong Kong have not amounted to anything. Obviously whatever compensation we have already given the families of the hostages, both victims and survivors, is not enough. Obviously what Hong Kong wants is humiliation for the Philippine government. Obviously what they want is more than what we can give.
It's funny that when Filipinos were killed in Tiananmen Square by a deranged individual in one incident, and by a terrorist in another, Beijing did not give a damn. They merely processed to have the bodies returned. Neither did we make a fuss the likes of what Hong Kong is currently doing. There really is no logic in blaming the government for the acts of an individual. The government can regret the incident, and offer whatever assistance it can, which is exactly what the government did. Even the current mayor of Manila where the incident took place has gone the extra mile in apologizing for the deadly hostage-taking. But again, it is not enough.
One cannot help but think that politics has played a role in the current situation between the two countries. The current Hong Kong administration is apparently not a popular one, and the imposition of sanctions gets them back in the good graces of the people. Beijing has approved of the move. Of course they do. They have their own beef with us over territories in the West Philippine Sea. Naturally, the sanctions play well into their psyche.
Talks are now underway, yet again, to try and defuse the situation, before they get any more bright ideas. The thousands of overseas workers in Hong Kong are now in a state of anxiety as to how this thing will eventually play out. The sanctions may cover them someday, as well as ordinary travelers. The argument that they cannot afford to lose the tourism we give them does not hold water. A billion Chinese from the mainland wanting to visit Hong Kong Disneyland is all that they need. Of course, politicians aligned with the opposition are now asking President Aquino to apologize and end this thing once and for all. But the question is, will it end?
For now, we just have to sit it out and wait for developments to come along, hopefully favorably. We just have to trust our leaders to do what is best for the country, without having to lose face. But with the mindset of the people we are trying to make amends, that may be easier said than done.