PHILIPPINES-ANNIVERSARY/HOSTAGE Manila government offers prayer to mark fifth year anniversary of Hong Kong bus hostage incident

Record ID: 142261

  • Title: PHILIPPINES-ANNIVERSARY/HOSTAGE Manila government offers prayer to mark fifth year anniversary of Hong Kong bus hostage incident
  • Date: 27th August 2015
  • Summary: MANILA, PHILIPPINES (FILE- AUGUST 23, 2010) (REUTERS) TOURIST BUS IN FRONT OF QUIRINO GRANDSTAND TOURIST BEING RELEASED FROM BUS PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKING PICTURES SWAT TEAM RUNNING TO BUS SWAT TEAM BREAKING BUS WINDOW PEOPLE RUNNING AWAY FROM BUS INVESTIGATORS IN FRONT OF BUS RESCUERS PUSHING STRETCHER AMBULANCES MOVING TO BUS
  • Embargoed: 11th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Philippines
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5PHR0365BLGZEYMQR0CEF8IIH
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Manila's local government marked the fifth year anniversary of a bloody hostage taking incident with a Buddhist ceremony on Thursday (August 27).
    In 2010, eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in Manila after a sacked policeman hijacked a tourist bus, an incident which led to a botched rescue attempt by the local authorities, killing the gunman and the victims in the process.
    Buddhist monks from Hong Kong were invited by the local officials of Manila to conduct a prayer ritual in Quirino Grandstand, the site where the hostage-taking incident took place.
    Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada led the ceremony and reiterated the local government's commitment to protect its tourists.
    "Today, as we hold our second 'Days of Prayer' for those lives that were lost on the tragedy, we also express our commitment to do all we can to prevent any such tragedy from ever happening again," he said.
    Manila issued a resolution in 2013 providing a yearly observance to the victims of the hostage-taking incident.
    The Manila City government has declared August 27 as its "Day of Prayer" this year, which coincides with the Ghost Festival of the Chinese lunar calendar to honour the souls of the dead.
    Relations between the Philippines and Hong Kong have eased up after Manila's city government offered an apology, compensation and justice for the victims in 2014, settling a lengthy diplomatic spat between the two.
    Hong Kong and the Philippines have close economic ties, with more than 150,000 Filipinos working mostly as domestic helpers, the Philippine Foreign affairs department said.
    The strain in ties between the city and the Philippines came during a sharp deterioration in relations between Beijing and Manila over overlapping claims of potentially oil- and gas-rich waters in the South China Sea.
    The former British territory of Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 but retains a high degree of autonomy over its affairs.
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