Just when we were seeing a bright light at the end of the tunnel, this happens.
HK lawmaker and former security chief Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee wants the Hong Kong government to cancel the visa-free arrangement with the Philippines in order to pressure President Aquino’s government to apologize for the HK bus tragedy of 2010, reports South China Morning Post.
She also says Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada’s compensation offer of US$75,000 to the families of the eight people who died in the Manila hostage crisis was “ridiculously low” and does not take into consideration the cost of living in HK.
Manila councilor Bernardito Ang, who was sent by Mayor Estrada to HK, announced on HK cable television that the City of Manila is ready to pay US75,000 to the families — double that sum (US$150,000) for those who sustained serious injuries, and less that sum (US$20,000 to US$25,000) for those with less serious injuries.
He could have left it at that.
Instead, he questioned why the life of a HK citizen is worth more than a Filipino soldier’s.
“Our government obviously has money but cannot openly say [why] we are compensating them so much. If a military soldier of ours dies while fighting for the country, [the family] currently gets HK$50,000. Hongkongers get US$75,000. Is that to say a Hongkonger’s life is worth more?”
Ip says the comparison was unfair.
Estrada has taken responsibility for the incident, saying it is the local governnment to blame, not the office of the Philippine president.
Screengrab via i-cable.com
