Duterte apologizes to Hong Kong over 2010 Rizal Park hostage crisis

HONG KONG – President Duterte formally apologized to Hong Kong for the 2010 hostage crisis in Rizal Park which resulted in the death of eight Hong Kong tourists eight years ago.

Duterte, in his speech before members of the Filipino community in Hong Kong, recognized that there has been no formal apology made by the national government after the incident that occurred during the term of former President Benigno Aquino III.

“There has been no official apologies that happened during that incident that happened in August, 2010. May I address myself to the Chinese people who are here: I apologize,” Duterte said Thursday evening.

“From the bottom of my heart, as the President of the Philippines and in behalf of the Filipino people, may I formally apologize to you now,” he added.

Duterte also said that he will make sure that such incident will never happen under his watch.

“We are sorry that the incident happened and as humanely as possible, I would like to guarantee you that this will never, never happen again,” the President said.

“We will go a long way to really assuage the feeling of the Chinese people. Wala kasing formal apology coming from the mouth, so ako na (There was never a formal, verbal apology, so let me do it),” he added.

Duterte visited roughly 2,000 members of the Filipino community Thursday following his participation to the Boao Forum for Asia 2018 in Hainan, China earlier this week.

This is the first time that the Philippine government has apologized for the incident after Aquino’s refusal to apologize as the latter thought it would create a legal liability. Aquino has also argued that China never compensated to the families of Filipinos who died in the mainland.

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada apologized to Hong Kong for the incident but the government and the families of the victims were not satisfied and demanded compensation.

In August 23, 2010, a bus carrying 20 Hong Kong tourists, a tour guide from Hong Kong, and four Filipino locals was hijacked by a disgruntled Philippine National Police (PNP) officer Rolando Mendoza who claimed that he was unfairly dismissed from his job. Mendoza was demanding a fair hearing to defend himself.

The 10-hour hostage crisis, which was broadcast live, have gone awry after the police arrested Mendoza’s brother, prompting the disgruntled law enforcer to open fire. Following an hour-and-aminute gunfight, Mendoza and eight of the hostages were declared dead.

Mendoza was a decorated police officer who rose to become a senior inspector after being recognized 17 times for bravery and honor.

But in April, 2008, hotel chef Christian Kalaw alleged that he was accosted by Mendoza and other officers over a parking violation. He also claimed that the police planted sachets of illegal drugs in his car, forced him to take the chemical, and accused him of being a drug addict.

The Office of the Ombudsman ordered Mendoza’s dismissal after he was found guilty of misconduct. He was later on relieved from service and voided all of his benefits.

In August, 2008 the Eighth Division of the Manila Prosecutors’ Office vacated the case after Kalaw failed to attend proceedings. The PNP Internal Affairs Service in October recommended that the case be dropped. (Argyll B. Geducos)