Hong Kong has suspended the visa-free arrangement for diplomatic and official Philippine passport holders due to the still unresolved Manila hostage crisis in August 2010 where scores of Hong Kong citizens were killed or injured.
“It is unfortunate that the Philippine government has allowed this issue to drag on, escalate and lead to sanctions that can eventually extend to the Filipino people and impact especially the Filipinos in Hong Kong. President Aquino must urgently and decisively act on the matter before it gets even worse.”
“Since it happened, the Filipino migrants and people have expressed sympathy to the victims and their families. We understand the anger of the survivors and the family of the victims over the bungled rescue operation, the perceived insensitivity of Aquino during the hostage crisis, and the disappointing pace of investigation and prosecution. We still sympathise and are one with them in their call for justice,” Eman Villanueva, the group’s Secretary-General, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
The imposition of the sanction indicates an intensification of the issue to a political and diplomatic concern, he said.
Villanueva called on the Aquino administration to speed up the delivery of justice. “Will it hurt the Philippine government to apologize directly to the survivors and families of the victims as they demand? Can’t it not do to the Hong Kong victims what it did to the victim of the Taiwan incident last year?,” Villanueva asked.
“This is worrisome as the case drags on. Now that sanction has been imposed, we are also anxious that the Filipino people will also suffer in the end,” he added.
Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said he will do his best to help resolve the row.
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