This came from a discussion board with regards to the HK's investigation. Feel free to be skeptical or amused:

TRZumi Wong Stay clam, let them know the truth, the news in philippine may not telling the truth, right. This is the timeline that we heard and saw about the news.

1) Hostage killed 8 hk people and 7 hurts, 1 hurts are by crash of head, now in ICU, hk. SWAT used more than a hour to go into the bus by using hammar etc.
2) the hostage once went to the car and said he just want justice, because he will retire on January 2011, and he will receive the money from government, however because the case that he was fired.
3) the hostage didn't ask for money and make serveral apologizes to people in the bus, and he has said that will let them out at 3pm.
4) the hostage receive a letter, letter said will re-open the case, but the hostage is asking to return to work immidiately, but the answer is "NO".
5) The police try to find his brother to negotiate with the hostage, however after the interview with the radio, the hostage brother got caught.
6)the hostage got angry and turned his mind to kill the hk people, he announced will kill all the people, even the child ( there are still some teenager in the bus)
7) finally 8 died and 7 hurts, at the same time, our Mr. Tsang has called your presidient serval times but still can't find your presidient.
8) your presidient in the press conference smile and said " he cannot ensure to protect the tourist safe"
9) police and student taking photo in front of the bus also with smiling face
10) representative of the governement said that our Mr. Tsang are called your presidient office, and your secretary cannot recongined that the called are from Mr. Tsang so he/she hasn't trasferred to the presidient. Mr. Tsang said, he wasn't called the office, also he got your presidient cell phone number.
11) your presidient have press conference and said that he was not meant to smile, he apologize if the smile hurt hk people. Asking why he will smile? He said when he facing tension or angry, he will smile, as at happy.
12) Why the SWAT got so stupid equipment? Any other better team? news said your country said there are another team is ready outside the place, and the police leader has told the situation to that solider leader, however your solider representative said " he hasn't receive any notice."
13) your country investigate 5 of 8 hk people (died), also the bus, and said all the shoot (fifty something) are all from the hostage, the policeman only shoot once, and found on the ceiling of the bus. your representative said " welcome the other country come and have investigate"
14) HK governement make an official notice to your governemnt and then sent out a team to your country to investigation, however when they have arrived and ready to investigate, they are rejected by your policeman, and the police representative said that HK team haven't got the permit.
15) 2-4 filipino helper in hong kong has fired. Your country sent mobile message to the filipino in hk and said if they got hurted, called 999(our emergency call no.)
16) A governement commitee private came to hk and report that the immigration officier once knew he was filipino then turned into a bad face and through his passport. Immigration said they have checked the camera, the commitee are came with 3 officier, and the immigration officier hasn't do this because those 4 passport are givien to the officier only, not the committee, also, they are through the VIP immigration check.
17)80000 of hk people came out last night and ask for a clear, open, justice investigation.
18) Assistant directior of HK police flight to philippine and arrival at 3am, would have emergency meeting at 9pm and discuss why the officer cannot climb into the bus and have investigation.
19) Result of the meeting : HK officier can have investigation with the bus, but for the result, HK need to get philippine agreed before explore the result of investigation........?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
20) The representative, (that refused the HK officer to get into the car ) said won't answer any question from HK media, she said HK media should ask HK governement, she will only answer the question asking by the philippine media.
21) the Radio explose the interview with the hostage. In the interview, he said the representative told him has returned the gun to his brother, however the represntative lied to him, that's why he don't want to negoitate anymore.

RMN reporter said , when the hostage saw the letter are saying that they will review the case instead of return his job and give him back the retire payment, the hostage said won't let the people go, and angry to said the letter are "TRASH". At 6.20pm, there are a shoot, reporter ask the hostage and he said this is the warning to Yebra for his lies.

Ten minutes after, the hostage saw the policeman coming and afraid he will be killed so he put one victims at the front door, and made his first warning to the philippine governement.

7pm, when the hostage saw his brother are caught by the policeman like a "PIG", through the TV in the bus, he was shouting and asking the police to release his brother other will kill someone.

Lastly, the hostage warned the government need to release his brother in five minutes, however, he brother was caught and took into the police car. The hostage warned his 17 times warning, he said he will kill everyone, even the child, but the police and the governement haven't give him any response. 1 minutes later, 2 victims killed. Reporter asked " is that two victims killed?" Hostage answer " I'm the one who done that, policeman should caught me not my brother", after that the fire started, 8 victims killed and 7 hurts.

Personal feeling : 17 times of warning that he will kill everyone, why there are no one reponse him? Force him to kill the people??? why???? I don't understand.UTH INVESTIGATION BY HK:

Subject: Family of tourists killed by crazed man: A Filipino family, that is, in Beijing

Think about this.
Interesting contrast/parallels......

The known facts are these:

On August 19, 2005, Emmanuel "Bong" Madrigal, a Manila-based Filipino executive of the multinational Shell, was visiting Beijing on vacation with his wife Vivian, his daugher Regina Mia, and two younger daughters. That day, they rode a tourist bus to Tiananmen Square, the heart of the capitol.

Upon arriving at the square, Emmanuel Madrigal was the first to descend from the bus, followed by Vivian and Regina Mia. A Chinese man wielding a scythe--in some reports it was described as a sword--suddenly appeared out of nowhere and hacked Emmanuel across his torso. He died on the spot. The man also attacked and seriously wounded Vivian. He then slashed at and killed Regina Mia. By this time, bystanders were trying to subdue the man, and Vivian shouted to her two other daughters to get away and save themselves. Somehow the girls made their way back to the hotel. Vivian was brought to a Beijing hospital, where she died several days later of her injuries.

An Associated Press report still circulating on the internet states that the killer was Wang Gongzuo, 25, a farmer from eastern China's Jiangsu province. He was sentenced to death for the murder of the Madrigals and executed a few weeks later, in September. The AP report states: 'Wang's motive for killing the two is unclear. After the incident occurred the Beijing Morning Post reported that he had wanted to 'affect society using extreme actions,' but didn't elaborate."

Reflect on the parallels. A family of vacationers on a tourist bus: the Leungs and the Madrigals. A killer out to "affect society using extreme actions": Mendoza and Wang. A massacre in a public place of symbolic significance: The Quirino grandstand, where the presidential inauguration had been held just weeks before, and site of the civil society protests against the Marcos regime; and Tiananmen Square, since ancient times the symbol of the centralized power of the Chinese state, and site of the 1991 civil protests against the government.

In both incidents, the state failed miserably in protecting innocent tourists.

And there the parallels end.

President Aquino has apologized to the families of Mendoza’s victims and conveyed his sorrow to the people of Hongkong, Chief Executive Donald Tsang, and Ambassador Lin Jian Chao. The Philippine National Police acknowledge that they botched matters beyond comprehension. Philippine legislators, ahead of their Hongkong counterparts, called for a full investigation. Philippine media organizations are looking to their own culpability in the affair. And masses of ordinary Filipinos, on TV, radio, print, and the Internet, are expressing collective horror, remorse and pity over the terrible fate of the innocent tourists, and bow their heads in shame before the Hong Kong people's sorrow and anger.

That is how it should be, that is only right. But.

To this day, five years after it happened, there is no public record of any Chinese official acknowledging the tourist killings in Tiananmen Square and apologizing to the Madrigals, much less the Filipino people, for the murder of Emmanuel, Regina Mia and Vivian. Not a single expression of regret that the Chinese police failed in their duty to protect the lives of innocent tourists in the very heart of Beijing, in the symbolic center of a state that prides itself most of all for its ability to control and contain disorder. There was a total blackout on the part of the Chinese press, and, according to another news report, government censors quickly blocked many internet sites where Chinese users had begun to post comments about the killing. So we will likely never know what ordinary Chinese citizens had to say about about the incident. Maybe some of them were actually sorry for what happened.

The closest thing to expressed regret was in fact the final reported action of the killer Wang, who waived his right to appeal the sentence of execution, and got a bullet in the back of his head.

To add to the horror, it would appear that the Arroyo administration was complicit in the silence. No public statement was ever made by the Philippine government regarding the incident. Unlike in Hongkong, no flags were flown at half-mast in Manila, and no three-minute silence was observed to mark the deaths of the innocent Filipino tourists. No demand has ever been made by any Filipino official for an apology, and for an accounting.

A full investigation of the Quirino Grandstand killing is ongoing. But what of that other killing, also in August, five years ago in Tiananmen Square?

Julian P. Aguila