I would like to think that if I were back in Hong Kong right now that today would have been spent donning black, pinning a yellow ribbon to my top, carrying a white carnation, and walking the streets of Hong Kong in a rally demanding justice for the victims of the Manila hostage tragedy.
But I would just like to say that the black travel alert that the Hong Kong has issued for the Philippines is ridiculous. the Philippines is now, according to the Hong Kong government, a more dangerous place to travel to than Iraq. According to the SCMP more than 500 people have cancelled their trips to the Philippines since Monday. But the Philippines is no less dangerous than it was before. I understand it’s a political ploy aimed at pressuring the Philippine government into launching an inquiry into the event, but it just seems rash and unnecessary.
At the same time, I think it’s sad that the Beijing government protested the Philippine flag being placed over Mendoza’s coffin, and that the protest resulted in an official going to the wake and removing the flag. It’s just sad that a man who was once the most decorated police officer in the Philippines is now seen as a murderer and nothing more.
Hopefully an inquiry into what happened will help appropriate blame to the right people, give the Hong Kong people the answers they are looking for, give the Philippine government the information they need to reform their police system, and help the families that were so horribly affected in what happen.
