published by The Bohol Chronicle
Former OIC governor, Atty. Victor dela Serna expressed dismay and disgust over the overly "apologetic and subservient" response to appease Hong Kong on chaotic Aug. 23 bus hostage fiasco across Quirino grandstand at the Luneta.
"It is not a through and through embarrassment to the Philippine government. Although there are lessons to be learned, we should not be apologetic because we are not a guarantor or issuer of absolute safety to all tourists coming to our country" said Dela Serna during an hour-long interview last Monday over the top-rated "Inyong Alagad" program of dyRD.
"We did not ask them to come here. We should not over-apologize because it can happen anywhere in the world".
He cited that other such incidents with even bigger magnitude happened in the 2002 Bali terror attack in Indonesia that killed 202, the 2002 Moscow Dubrovka Theatre hostage seige that claimed 170 lives, 129 hostages including 9 foreigners and the numerous massacre of innocent people including children by disgruntled gunmen in the United States, among others.
"We have our tourism program but we can be gracious up to a certain limit only. As an assurance to our future tourists, instead of an apology, we should seek assistance for better equipment and training for our SWAT and SAF teams," the former governor stressed even as said that "all countries have their share of the dregs of society."
Mincing no words, the feisty former governor lambasted Hongkong Chief Executive Donald Chang for "castigating Filipinos as if we are an inferior people. It is not proper to vent their ire on the 130,000 Filipinas working as domestic helpers" in the former Crown Colony. He described their reaction as "racist".
Dela Serna sadly observed that "just because they come here appearing as masters, Filipinos should lay down their lives because they look down on us as slaves".
Dela Serna did not spare DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman for providing 2.4M worth of bubble top caskets for the eight Hongkong victims when minimal financial assistance was extended to casualties of the recent bus accidents and numerous fire and flood victims.
"The job of the DSWD is to help the poor. They should have just put them in a crate and send them back to their country" fumed Dela Serna.
Dela Serna further said that Hongkong's anger towards the ineptness of our police is justified. But " it is unjustified if directed to Filipinos here and in Hongkong because we did not condone nor were we part of Mendoza's plan to massacre innocent people. The entire Filipino nation should not be condemned for the act of one man".
Dela Serna chided top government officials including President Nonoy for being 'too apologetic and subservient.' But he took exception to talks aimed at smearing the President as an inexperienced hostage negotiator.
"We did not elect Noynoy because he is a good hostage negotiator. We elected him as president because he promised us a new form of government without corruption, lies and cheating. Let's give him a chance," he concluded.
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Topic: Former Bohol Governor Blasts Hong Kong Leader; Defends RP Govt (Read 1571 times)