HONG KONG, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The people of Hong Kong, especially the survivors and the victims' families, would find hard to accept, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government was disappointed at, the report by the Philippine government on the deadly hostage crisis in Malina on Aug. 23, the city's government said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The Philippine government decided to lessen the recommended actions against the relevant officers named in the first report by the Incident Investigation and Review Committee. The people of Hong Kong, especially the survivors and the victims' families, will find this hard to accept. The Hong Kong SAR government is also disappointed," said a Hong Kong government spokesman.
The city's government announced its stance after reviewing the report of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee of the Philippines on the hostage-taking incident, said the statement.
Hong Kong people expect the Philippine government to handle the question of responsibility of the officials and persons involved in a fair manner, and follow through the required actions seriously, he said.
The eventual actions to be taken against the persons involved must live up to their pledge to be accountable to the public, and that is also what is owed to the dead and the injured, said the spokesman.
On Aug. 23, Philippine ex-policeman, Rolando Mendoza, hijacked a bus carrying 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos in Manila, in a bid to be reinstated in the country's police force.
Eight Hong Kong tourists were killed and seven others were injured after an 11-hour standoff. |