2. BACKGROUND OF THE 2010 HOSTAGE CRISIS
-
Back in 2010, dispatched police officer Rolando Del Rosario Mendoza
took 25 people hostage on a bus. Among the captive were 22 Chinese
and 3 Philippine nationals. Rolando’s reason for taking the hostages
was for being dishonorably dispatched by the police force and his
demand was to be rehired into the police force. Rolando however had a
background of being an astounding police officer being awarded 17
times for bravery and honor. According to certain sources, he was
framed as a drug addict by fellow police officers himself.
-
After the police force tried to negotiate with Mendoza, Mendoza did not
seem to comply with the police force’s efforts to rehear the case of
Mendoza.
-
Eventually, Mendoza fired shots upon 8 Chinese tourists from Hong
Kong and was eventually killed by a sniper.
-
The case of the 8 dead Chinese tourists angered Hong Kong /China
greatly and had a negative impact on Chinese Philippine relations as
China allegedly thinks that the cause of the deaths are a result of the
Philippine SWAT teams incompetency.

4. ONGOING SITUATION
-
Hong Kong has stated that the case still strains the relationship
between the Philippines and Hong Kong due to the victims asking for an
apology from the Philippine government itself, and compensation for
the acts.
-
Tse-Chi Kin, a brother of one of the killed hostages in crisis criticized
the ability and competence of the Philippine government and its SWAT
team stating that had the Philippine government been able to negotiate
with the perpetrator, his brother would still be alive right now.
-
Most of the killed hostages family members demand an apology from
president Aquino himself, but Aquino would not make a formal apology
to the government and to the hostages as he states that it is not a result
of the Philippine government but rather the hostage taker Rolando
Mendoza himself.

5. PHILIPPINE HONG KONG RELATIONAL
CONSEQUENCES
-
As of the moment, the Philippines has remained to have a black travel
warning issued by Hong Kong as a result of the crisis.
-
Hong Kong has imposed sanctions against the Philippines including the
need for a visa for a Philippine national to travel to Hong Kong.
-
Many Filipinos are currently working in Hong Kong and with the
implementation for the need of a visa, many Filipinos will be affected as
OFW’s will need to obtain visas to work in Hong Kong.
-
Economically, this will hurt the Philippines and Hong Kong, however the
issue may be resolved with an apology from the president himself.
Although an apology was given by the new mayor of Manila, the
Chinese government demands that Aquino himself apologizes.
However, president Aquino refuses to give an apology to the Chinese
government and the hostage crisis victims.

6. PHILIPPINE HONG KONG RELATIONAL
CONSEQUENCES
-
Despite the destruction of Typhoon Haiyan, the Chinese government sees
the need for no delay regarding its visa sanction against the Philippines.
-
“Last week, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced plans
to impose economic sanctions against the Philippines unless it met the demands
of the victims of the 2010 Rizal Park hostage-taking incident within one month.” According to Philippine news sources, which cited Hong Kong sources, on
Tuesday Hong Kong announced that it does not plan to delay the sanctions on
account of the super typhoon that has wrecked parts of the Philippines and left
over 1,800 people dead.
-
http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/hong-kong-wont-delay-sanctions-against-thephilippines/
-
“I wouldn’t agree to delaying the sanction. I think we should, on one hand, provide
humanitarian relief to the best we can if that is being called for, but, on the other
hand, the hostage incident is a matter of justice for the Hong Kong people and
especially the victims,” said Fernando Cheung, a Hong Kong lawmaker.

7. RESOLUTION?
-
Basically, all that needs to be done in order to resolve the situation
would be for the Philippine government and President Aquino himself to
apologize to the Hong Kong Government. This may not be as easy as it
sounds as President Aquino himself takes the current stand that it was
not necessarily the Philippine Government’s fault for the deaths of the
Chinese nationals but rather the fault of one Philippine national who
does not represent the Philippines as a collective. Hong Kong however,
believes that the Philippine government’s inability to negotiate and the
Philippine task force’s incompetence was the result of the deaths of the
Chinese citizens. China proclaims that, had the Philippine government
been able to handle the situation, the Chinese tourists would be alive.

8. RESOLUTION
-
This issue has strained Philippine Hong Kong relations to a big point. It
could be as easy as giving an apology from President Aquino, but
maybe the Philippine government has its reasons not to. The
consequences however apply to all of us Philippine citizens as Hong
Kong is a main tourist stop for many of us people.
-
Thankfully, the Philippine government states that they are trying to
resolve the issue quietly with the Hong Kong Government, however we
may not know the result yet as this issue is still ongoing.

9. PERSONAL OPINIONS ON WHETHER THE
PHILIPPINES SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO HONG
KONG

10. SOURCES
http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/hong-kong-wont-delay-sanctions-againstthe-philippines/
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/10/11/13/hk-raps-philippine-mediaover-report-hostage-crisis
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2013/11/08/phl-working-quietlyresolve-dispute-hk-312756
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/334700/pinoyabroad/news/travelin
g-to-hk-monitor-official-websites-phl-foreign-official-suggests
http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/corruption/43045-hostage-crisisphilippine-apology-hong-kong