* MY PERSONAL JOURNAL *
August 26, 2010 1:57 AM
Mixed emotions surrounds me as i watch the news today. As a Filipino Citizen, i would like to extend my deepest condolences to all the grieving families of the victims. I feel sad, i feel angst for all the grieving families of the victims and worried as well for all Filipinos in Hong Kong who might experience outright discrimination by their employer because of what had happened last August 23, 2010 in Quirino Grandstand, Manila. Aside from that news from different televisions stations all over the world, centers one issue, mainly the :"Manila Hostage Taking Incident" that occurred in our country.
As i watch the Rundown news today in ANC News, i have seen the bodies of hostage victims arriving in Hong Kong and feels sad seeing the relatives grieving for their loved ones. I know how hard it is to lost someone dear in our heart because my grandfather died before due to a tragic accident too.
Another news mentioned that there are acts of discriminations occurring in Hong Kong against the Filipino OFW's. One Filipina worker was relieve from her job because of the hostage drama. Then one Hong Kong investor backed out from his plan of creating a call center here in the Philippines due to hostage drama incident. Teresita Ang See, the Chinese interpreter, mentioned and relay the mixed feelings of the relatives of the victims during her Rundown interview by the ANC News. She said that the victims thought that the hostage drama was planned by the hostage taker because he chooses their bus knowing that it was a Chinese tourists bus. But the interpreter informed the relatives that it was not like that, because mostly of the bus here in the Philippines are from China considering that China is one of the biggest trading partner of the Philippines. Aside from that, the interpreter mentioned that the relatives don't wanna be near with the Filipinos as they ride the elevator.
Aside from that the 7 countries around the world releases a Ban Travel advisory to all its citizens in all locations here in the Philippines. These countries are China, Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, etc. As far as i know mostly are from Asia.
But despite of all this negative news, one notable twit shown some hope for us when, Chinese Celebrity Jackie Chan tweeted on his Twitter account @EyeOfJackieChan: "this kind of things always happen around the world. It happen to hk's people, the whole hk is talking about it. Its really sad." He even acknowledged the difficult situation the Philippine authorities were in during the incident. He stated, "If they killed the guy sooner, they will say why not negotiate first? If they negotiate first, they ask why not kill the guy sooner? So sad." He even commented regarding discrimination against Filipinos in HK and contradict it by twitting in his account: "HK is a nation built by a lot of people." He even added, "Dont worry, we do not hate!"
As far as any Filipino people are concerned, all i can say is that what had happened last August 23. 2010 is an isolated case which are out of our control. Events like these occur not only in our country, but in different parts of the globe. One things for sure is that, we all hate what had happened. If the government had done better and have find measure and ways on how to save the lives of all the hostages, none of these scenarios would have occurred. Even my dad was shouting at the television when the hostage taker is acting aggressively, as we watched the incident live in the news, stating, "They should give what he wants! They should have not made him angrier by capturing his brother. What are they doing? Give him what he wants! Reinstate and give him his pensions. Afterall he is few months away from retirement! What's important is that lives must be saved! That man is no longer in his right senses!" Well, i could not agree more with my dad. If the government have done it earlier, none of these sad scenarios have occurred. :(
I am sending my deepest condolences to all the relatives of the hostage victims. Hoping that the everything will be alright in due time.