Statement of President Aquino on the August 23, 2010 hostage-taking incident at the Quirino Grandstand
It was a sad day for Filipinos around the world today and a very sad day for the victims and the families of the hostage crisis that unfolded and ended bloodily at Quirino Grandstand. We share the grief of the victims and we offer our deepest condolences to their families.
President Noynoy Aquino issued a statement through the Government webiste via the via Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.
Here’s the statement from the President.
STATEMENT
of
His Excellency BENIGNO S. AQUINO III
President of the Philippines
On the hostage-taking incident at the Quirino Grandstand
[August 23, 2010]
With the rest of the Filipino people, I wish to offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims whose lives were lost in the hostage situation at the Quirino Grandstand. The Secretary of Foreign Affairs has conveyed our deep feelings of sorrow to the Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China and the people of Hong Kong through Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang. I have tasked Secretaries Soliman and Lim to provide everything necessary for the recovery and return home of the survivors. I have directed the fullest cooperation with the Hong Kong authorities on the part of our officials.
From the onset of this incident, the hostage-taker seemed to not be belligerent, as shown by the release of hostages. These were encouraging signs.
We were going to wait him out. The idea was to let the ground commanders who are the experts in this field handle the operation with minimal interference from people who are less expert.
But the situation deteriorated rapidly when, during the course of the negotiations, he was given the letter of the Ombudsman in which she promised to personally review his case. As he was reading the contents of the letter, while talking to an unknown individual on the phone, he became increasingly agitated.
The presence of his brother also added to the tension.
At this point, he threatened to kill a hostage. The police decided to remove the brother from the scene. As the negotiators were departing, the negotiators were shot at.
Media coverage of his brother being taken into custody further agitated the hostage-taker.
Shots were fired. They seemed to be warning shots, as there was no audible indication of tumult or chaos to show that the hostages were in immediate danger.
Nonetheless, the negotiators tried to reestablish contact the hostage-taker but they were unsuccessful as the cellphone of the hostage-taker was continuously busy. He also refused to answer the throw-phone provided for him by the authorities.
The escape of the driver, combined with his reports that the hostages were being harmed, forced the assault to happen. When the vehicle began to move, and with reports that he had hand grenades, a decision was made to immobilize the vehicle as it would have made the situation even more dangerous.
As we know, the incident tragically ended in the deaths of eight innocent civilians.
We expect more of the facts to come to light and I have ordered Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to thoroughly lead this review.
via Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.
i was in deep shock…sad and angony…
our government seem so useless and selfish…
the government can do a lot better than this….
they can talk and negotiate better…
“prevention is better than cure” is a classic line but its accurate to discribe the said hostage drama…
mendoza wants only action from the ombudsman…
he was dismissed. and he filed a pettioned for review for his case… but it was year passed but still he gets no answer or what so ever from the agency or instition,
i didnt say what he is is right but, it was a picture of what kind policy and system we have….
i just hope our government will consider reviewing all the system from the government officials,rules,law and so on…
and in the part of the people we all need to re-evaulate our self…
the change will start within our self…
Sad news indeed! There has to be a yearly psychological test for all those in authorities, especially those who will be issued guns…
nanghihinayang talaga ako sa nangyari kahapon.. nakakahiya naman ok lang sana kung pinoy iyong mga nahostgae but it doesnt mean that its just ok for me if they were die pero tourist ang mga iyon eh.. nakakahiya namn..apektado pa nga ako sa nangyari.. ang sinisisi ko tuloy ay iyong mga pulis…i wish i were just dreaming that day cause i cant really accept of what happened yesterday.. it was a big big shame to all of the Filipinos.. baka bumaba pa ang rate ng tourism natin dyan.. Bakit ba kasi walang ginawa ang pamilya ng mendozang iyon? Sana sila ang naging negotiator o nakipag usap man lang sa pulis na iyon para itigil ang kanyang ginagawa.. im really sorry to say this but i am just expressing my feelings of what have happen yesterday..
You cannot be contacted by the prime minister mr. president.you are supposed to be on top of the situation. whats the problem?
@ARA: how could you say that it would have been better if Filipinos and not HK nationals were kiled during that incident? how could you even think of that? kaya hindi umaasenso ang Pilipinas kasi masyado tayong xenocentric. Mas importante pa ang kapakanan ng mga dauhan kesa sa sariling kababayan. people, wake up!
sometime’s what wrong w\ filipino peole is they don’t have the “courage to do what is right’ or the so called ‘moRALITY,,,,