Erap’s “stunt” in Hong Kong

For whatever it was worth, Manila Mayor Joseph "Erap" Estrada went to Hong Kong (bringing with him an undisclosed amount for compensation) last Tuesday to formally apologize to the families of the victims of the August 2010 hostage taking incident that happened at the Quirino Grandstand wherein highly-decorated Philippine National Police  officer Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza took hostage a tourist bus with Hong Kong tourists on board. After several hours, eight Hong Kong tourists and hostage taker Mendoza were killed in a botched rescue attempt.

This was one very embarrassing incident that proved to the Filipino people that Pres. Benigno Aquino, III who was barely two months in office did not have what it takes to be the President of this country. Worse for us was that CNN, BBC, Fox News, and Al Jazeera had a field day covering live the ill-fated rescue attempt, which was a mockery to our police who became the laughing stock of the world. Almost everyone in the world had an idea how to stop a solitary deranged gunman without risking the lives of the bus passengers.

What a huge difference when the first Aquino president, Pres. Cory Aquino, appeared in the international scene. We were proud to be called Filipinos then because of the EDSA People Power Revolt. The entry of the second Aquino in Malacañang gave a totally different view of Filipinos -- that we're nothing but a bunch of keystone cops, entertaining us in a black and white vaudeville film just like in the times of the silent movie era.

But the result of this international incident was no laughing matter because Pres. Aquino refused to apologize to the Hong Kong people because of this incident. His excuse was totally flimsy… saying, "Why should I apologize? Apology would mean accepting responsibility." First of all, the incident happened in the Philippines where PNoy is the President and secondly, the hostage taker was a policeman, which is technically under the Office of the President. That's enough reason for the President to apologize. But he steadfastly refused and it angered the people of Hong Kong.

Four years later, the President still refused to apologize and finally the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong came up with a retaliatory edict that henceforth all Filipino government officials would have to secure visas when they go to Hong Kong. The visa requirement was originally proposed for all Filipinos. Good thing that the Hong Kong government limited this restriction to Filipino government officials and employees.

Now back to Mayor Erap. What was his agenda for this apology? First of all, he is now the Mayor of Manila and since this ugly incident happened in the City of Manila, then it has some "official" status. However, there is a clincher, wherein Mayor Erap unexpectedly cleared the name of Pres. PNoy when he said, "It is not the President's fault, it is the fault of my predecessor, the former Mayor. The President has nothing to do with this, it is purely local, the national government has no fault in the incident"

Of course Mayor Erap was referring to former Manila Mayor Alfred Lim who he says was recommended for suspension but that this suspension was never carried out. First of all, Mayor Erap is a political animal, and without any doubt, he is doing this not as a favor to the country or even for the people of Manila, rather he is doing it as a favor to himself.

If at all there is any threat to his mayorship in the next elections, it is still former mayor Alfred Lim who is the strongest contender to wrest the City of Manila from Mayor Erap. If you recall, Mayor Erap was mayor of San Juan for so many years. However the voters of Manila were obviously star struck and voted for Erap.

In the end, this trip or should we call it a "Stunt" to Hong Kong to apologize for that botched rescue incident is nothing but a mere "Palabas" or political drama designed to bring down his future political opponent. When I first read that Mayor Erap was going to Hong Kong for this apology, my first reaction was that it was a great and noble deed that Mayor Erap was doing on behalf of the Filipino people. I was totally mistaken!

But in the end, Mayor Erap revealed his end game, the bottom line is that it has no noble objective at all but just a political ploy to demolish his political opponent, while clearing the name of the President. But at this point it's too late for that apology to come from PNoy who only showed us that he only cares for his own selfish interest, rather than the interest of the Filipino people as a whole. Thankfully Hong Kong accepted Erap's apology and compensation and removed the visa requirements for Filipino officials. So all's well that ends well, even if it was a political ploy.

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