Benigno Aquino, the smiling president handling the Manila hostage crisis, dies aged 61
Local | 24 Jun 2021 3:06 pm
Former Philippine president Benigno Aquino, who was remembered by most in Hong Kong as the smiling president when he handled the Manila hostage crisis, which costed eight Hongkongers’ life, died at the age of 61.
During the 2010 Manila hostage crisis, a former Philippine policeman held a bus filled with 15 Hong Kong tourists hostage in central Manila.
The incident was broadcast live around the world, and ended badly with the hijacker killing eight hostages before he was shot dead by police. Aquino's government was heavily criticized for its handling of the siege.
Day-long negotiations to release the hostages trapped on the bus failed that day and Philippine security forces bungled their rescue attempt.
Aquino attracted furious criticism after disgruntled the former policeman Rolando Mendoza hijacked a tourist bus, leading to a deadly shoot-out with police, when he appeared to smile at a press conference following the incident.
He had long refused to formally apologize over the incident, only with the Philippine government expressed “its most sorrowful regret and profound sympathy” in 2014, four years after the tragedy.
It was until 2018, when his successor Rodrigo Duterte formally apologized as the president of the Republic of the Philippines and in behalf of the people of the Philippines.
