PHILIPPINES: Christian group urges speedy probe of hostage deaths

By Maurice Malanes, September 08, 2010 [Ecumenical News International, Manila] A Christian group has joined a demand in the Philippines for a speedy and impartial probe of a recent hostage-taking incident that led to the deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists in what some commentators said was a mishandled rescue by police.

"No words can match our deep remorse over the incident. Our sense of loss goes beyond our finite understanding. We are truly sorry for the senseless loss of lives," the Rev. Rex Reyes, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, said in an Aug. 31 letter to the Rev. Po Kam Cheong of the Hong Kong Christian Council.

"We join the demand for speedy and impartial investigation to render justice to the victims," said Reyes, a priest in the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.

A sacked Philippines police captain, Rolando Mendoza, had hijacked a tourist bus with an M-16 assault rifle in Manila on Aug. 23, apparently in an attempt to clear his name and get his job back. The 11-hour stand-off ended with Mendoza and the eight Hong Kong tourists dead, after the police spent an hour conducting a disorganized rescue plan.

"We apologize to all the bereaved and the living victims and we seek their forgiveness," said Reyes.

Philippines and Hong Kong authorities on Aug. 30 began investigating the hostage incident.

The Rev. Simplicio Dang-awan Jr., a retired pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, said the government needs to train professional negotiators for hostage crises. "I suggest that police and military chaplains be included in this training," Dang-awan, a former air force chaplain, who also specialized in pastoral psychology, told ENInews.