Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expressed her condolences to the Manila hostage victims' families, through personally written letters addressed to Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, reports Inquirer.net.
The former President said in her letter to Tsang, "Whoever may be held accountable for the violent turn in the negotiations should be penalized accordingly. This is the only way by which we can truly honor the memory of the victims and give justice to the families in their hour of bereavement." She added, "It is my earnest hope that despite this deplorable incident, the goodwill that exists between the people of Hong Kong and the Filipino people will remain undiminished."
In Arroyo's letter to Wen, she condemned the "brutal slaying which stirred outrage and caused much pain to the Chinese nation." She said, "With great sadness, I wish to express my deepest sympathy to you and to the people of the People's Republic of China, especially to the families of your eight Hong Kong compatriots who were slain during the hostage taking incident in Manila."
Arroyo vowed, in both letters dated August 26, to "closely follow" the investigation of the Quirino Grandstand hostage tragedy.
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