I have nothing to apologise for, says Manila mayor in charge during botched hostage rescue

Former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim said yesterday that Hong Kong's visa restrictions on the Philippines were "baseless" and he had nothing to apologise for over the botched rescue of Hongkongers taken hostage by a rogue policeman in 2010.

"If you ask me personally, they have no basis in truth or in fact in what they are doing," Lim, who was mayor at the time of the incident, told radio station DZMM when asked his reaction to Hong Kong's requirement that official and diplomatic passport holders obtain entry and transit visas.

"If they don't want us going to Hong Kong, then let's not go there. Who's the loser? They are," he said.

He said he was not advocating retaliation for the sanctions "unless they hurt our countrymen there".

He noted that China had not apologised when Filipino nationals were killed there in two separate incidents.

Lim's refusal to apologise contradicted an earlier remark in which he said he had already apologised during a memorial mass a week after the tragedy.

"I said we regretted what happened because nobody wants that to happen," he recalled.