Philippines: 'We already paid compensation'
Officials point to an offer made through an NGO. Survivor, who refused cash, says it's meaningless
Compensation for the victims of the Manila hostage crisis has already been paid, past and present Philippine government officials insisted yesterday.
Their claim comes after victims' families and survivors filed a writ in the High Court seeking compensation and an apology from Manila and calling for officials to be held accountable and tourist safety to be improved.
The former Secretary of Tourism of the Philippines Alberto Lim told the South China Morning Post that money given to victims through a private nongovernment organisation was a government initiative.
"We worked it out with the private sector so it would not appear like it was reparation from the government," Lim said. And its Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez told the Post yesterday that the government had fulfilled all the victims' demands. "Significant financial tokens of solidarity were likewise offered and were duly received by the victims and their families in 2011," he said.
No government official would disclose the amounts given. A source who helped arrange the offer said "it was over a million US dollars - a hefty sum" and was shared among survivors and families of those who died after Rolando Mendoza hijacked a tour bus in Manila in August 2010.
Mendoza shot dead seven tourists and their guide, all Hongkongers, before being killed in a bungled rescue.