MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III has yet to decide on a proposed cash “assistance” for relatives of the victims of the August 23 hostage crisis.

Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma said on Thursday that the plan, which was first made public by Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman, needs to be thoroughly studied.

He said Aquino wants to call the “solidarity fund” as “assistance” and not either as reparation or compensation.

Coloma added that Malacañang has to assess the proposed fund’s “affordability”.

Speaking to ANC's "Headstart" last week, Soliman revealed that Aquino ordered the Cabinet to work closely with the Chinese government on how to give assistance to the victims.

"It's not compensation, it's a solidarity offering. It's understanding their situation and saying that in their culture, it is important to make them feel that we understand the gravity of the situation and that part of our show of solidarity is to offer them this financial support. It is not equivalent to what everyone would have earned had they lived," she said in the interview.

In a “Kapihan sa Senado” forum on Thursday, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero criticized the Cabinet for announcing the solidarity fund.

“To begin with I don't think they should have announced it if they were not sure of giving it,” he said.

“Ngayon pa lang yata magdedesisyon kung may ibibigay nga ba o wala (It’s just now that they will decide whether to give cash),” he added. “Kung wala pang pasya, sana huwag na muna ina-anunsyo… at baka mukhang minamaliit natin yung naganap na nangyari at tila may katumbas ito na salapi o ilang pirasong pera na hindi naman kayang suklian at ibalik pa (If there is no decision yet, they should announce it. It might look like we are not taking the incident seriously).” 

Escudero said Cabinet officials should be careful about issuing statements to the media about the cash aid for the relatives of the hostage victims from Hong Kong.

He added that the Philippine government should keep this in mind so as not to add to the anger of the Chinese people.