Philippine president Duterte apologies for Manila bus hostage tragedy for first time on his visit to Hong Kong

It has been eight years the victims' family looks for an apology from the Philippine officials after the Manila bus hostage crisis leading nine deaths, of eight Hong Kong people, and a belated apology has been finally sent out by the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on his visit to Hong Kong.  

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a meeting with the Filipino community in Hong Kong, Thursday, April 12, 2018. Duterte is on a three day private visit to Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sings as he attend a meeting with the Filipino community in Hong Kong, Thursday, April 12, 2018. Duterte is on a three day private visit to Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Duterte upended all previous leaders with steadfast refusal to admit the fault of the botched rescue approach spending more than 10 hours and resulting eight deaths of Hongkongers when a tour bus with 20 tourists was hijacked in Manila. 

"For the first time – the Chinese government and the people of China have already been waiting for this – there has been no official apology coming from the Filipinos regarding what happened in August 2010," Duterte told publicly a gathering of the city's Filipino residents.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte attends a meeting with the Filipino community in Hong Kong, Thursday, April 12, 2018.Duterte is on a three day private visit to Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

"May I address the Chinese people who are here. From the bottom of my heart, as president of the Republic of the Philippines, and on behalf of the people of the Philippines, may I apologise and say sorry that the incident happened and as humanly possible I would like to make this guarantee – it will never happen again."

The apology has a round of applause from the about 2500 attendants at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. 

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte attends a meeting with the Filipino community in Hong Kong, Thursday, April 12, 2018. Duterte is on a three day private visit to Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte attends a meeting with the Filipino community in Hong Kong, Thursday, April 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Former president Benigno Aquino had refused to apologise for the handling of the crisis. The official statement used words "most sorrowful regret and profound sympathy" to brief the incident in his term of the president. 

Now, the outspoken president on his three-day visit to Hong Kong said he hoped his apology would go a long way to really assuage the feelings of the Chinese government and people. 

He said it was only right to apologise, "What is really needed is just to say we are very sorry, we apologise."

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, attends a meeting with the Filipino community in Hong Kong, Thursday, April 12, 2018. Duterte is on a three day private visit to Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Black travel alert against the Philippines was issued after the terrible rescue attempt had left 13 Hong Kong tourists injured in Manila’s Rizal Park until 2014, the two governments and the victims' family reached an agreement with an unrevealed amount of compensation given by Manila. 

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte attends a meeting with the Filipino community in Hong Kong, Thursday, April 12, 2018. Duterte is on a three day private visit to Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

The attitudes of a survivor and the family members of the victims were diverse after knowing the apology from the president. 

"The Philippine government has been evading its responsibility over the tragedy for the past eight years until now, when eventually a representative from the government has offered an apology. It is a form of respect to the victims’ families," said Tse Chi-kin, elder brother of tour guide Masa Tse Ting-chunn, who was killed in the incident.

He hoped the government would take the experience of the incident to avoid future tragedies. 

Tse Chi-kin, elder brother of tour guide Masa Tse Ting-chunn, who was killed in the incident. (Online photo)

However, survivor Yik Siu-ling, whose lower jaw was shattered by a bullet, had undergone 50 times of reconstruction surgery and is still in treatment, said, "I think that the apology was not sincere enough. He [Duterte] should instead offer it in written form … He should at least write us a letter or meet us formally."

She thought the belated apology would not mean much to the victims’ families.

Survivor Yik Siu-ling, whose lower jaw was shattered by a bullet, had undergone 50 times of reconstruction surgery and is still in treatment. (Facebook photo)

Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun, who helped the affected families, believed the apology, although late, was a positive sign.

"Duterte is, after all, an elected president and he apologised on behalf of the Filipino people. I believe that it can help improve the relationship between Hong Kong and the Philippines," he said. 

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio sheriff's patrol commander who declared on Facebook that he would not help Democrats and would require proof of who a person voted for before providing them aid has apologized, blaming prescribed sleep aids for causing his “out of character” actions.

Lt. John Rodgers, a 20-year veteran of the sheriff's office in Clark County, where Springfield is the county seat, made the statements in several posts on Facebook, WHIO-TV reported.

“I am sorry. If you support the Democrat Party I will not help you,” Rodgers reportedly wrote in one post. Another said: “The problem is that I know which of you supports the Democratic Party and I will not help you survive the end of days."

The sheriff’s office said Rodgers, who has commanded the department's road patrol, would remain on duty, with a written reprimand for violating the department’s social media policy.

“We’ve been in this battle over the last few months, with the attacks on the Haitian community and other immigrants, and we protect people’s rights and we don’t support the conduct to the contrary,” Mike Young, the county’s chief deputy, told the Springfield News-Sun. “I can’t go back in time and take that post away; the lieutenant made the post and he has received consequences for that.”

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and his running mate JD Vance, drew Springfield into the national spotlight with false claims — some made during a nationally televised presidential debate — that the city's Haitian immigrants were eating people’s pet dogs and cats. Springfield is in southwestern Ohio between Columbus and Dayton.

Clark County Elections Director Jason Baker said Rodgers was not scheduled to be at the county elections board on Tuesday night, but that the sheriff's office is still planning to send other officers there to provide security during the election count.

“I think the public should still be safe, with the Clark County sheriff's department and the Springfield Police Department at work,” he told The Associated Press. “We're all fighting for the same outcome, which is to have a peaceful day.”

A sheriff’s office statement said the posts do not reflect the office’s mission and values.

“It is understood that while these comments are highly inappropriate, they in no means reflect the Clark County Sheriff’s Office delivery of service to ALL our community," the statement said. “The community has a right to be upset over the actions of Lt. Rodgers and he, as well as the Sheriff’s Office in general, will have to work even harder to replenish the trust of members of our community.”

Rodgers formally responded to the reprimand, writing in a letter in his personnel file that he does not recall writing the posts or taking them down, and was alerted to them when a coworker asked if he was OK, the Springfield News-Sun reported. Rodgers wrote that he did not find them on his page when he searched for them and that the first time he saw them was during a meeting with a department official.

Rodgers said he sometimes takes a prescribed sleep aid that can cause him to send “out of character” texts, phone calls or other forms of communication as a side effect. The lieutenant said that as soon as he learned of the messages on Tuesday, he deactivated his Facebook account and stopped taking the medication, the newspaper reported.

Clark is not the only Ohio county dealing with controversial statements made by law enforcement officials on social media.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s election monitoring operation is on site in Portage County, in the northeastern part of Ohio, to ensure the county complies with federal voting rights laws during early voting and on Election Day.

That’s after Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski, a Republican, was accused last month of intimidating voters. Zuchowski, who is running for reelection, posted on social media that people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses written down so that immigrants can be sent to live with them if the Democrat wins the presidency.

In the wake of the comments, the Portage County Board of Elections voted to forego using sheriff's deputies for election security this year.

Asked at a news conference Monday about how the two cases might impact voters' feelings of safety, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said some law enforcement officials — particularly when they’re running for office — can sometimes make comments that are “ill-advised.”

“But that doesn’t, in any way, implicate the dedicated sworn deputies that work for them,” he said. ”Those are dedicated people that are first and foremost lawmen and women. They’ve sworn an oath to do this. They put their life on the line to do this, and I have every confidence that they take that duty very seriously.”

FILE - A campaign sign for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz is displayed in Downtown Springfield, Ohio, near the Springfield News Sun building, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski, File)

This undated image provided by the Clark County Ohio Government website shows Lt. John Rodgers, a 20-year veteran of the Clark County sheriff’s office, who posted on Facebook that he would not help people who support the Democratic Party. (Clark County Ohio Government Website via AP)