The Hong Kong government Thursday assured the Philippines of its continued friendship, Philippine authorities there said, as the former Crown colony observed a mournful silence for eight tourists killed in a Manila bloodbath. Philippine Consul General Claro Cristobal said the Hong Kong government also assured the continued safety of Filipinos residing and working in the territory that had been reverted to China several years ago. The southern Chinese territory held three minutes of silence with flags lowered to half-mast at a special ceremony overseen by Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang and a large crowd of black-clad people on the city's harbor waterfront. A tearful woman at the ceremony said she wanted to take care of two children aged 15 and 12 whose parents were killed in Monday's day-long hostage siege on a bus in the Philippine capital. “My heart hurts. I hope the pain they feel will fade soon. I am willing to be the mother of the two orphans,” the woman, who did not identify herself, told the Cable News broadcaster. Expressing his grief over the tragedy, Tsang said at the ceremony: “We can't help but ask why human nature is so ugly? In the eyes of the gunman, apart from his personal interests, had he thought about others?” Staff from travel agency Hong Thai lowered their heads to mourn Masa Tse, the 31-year-old tour guide who was praised for alerting his Hong Kong office to the hijacking by cellphone from the back of the tour bus. Business grounded to a halt in the bustling Asian financial hub, a safe and affluent city that has not seen such degree of violence as what happened in Manila's Rizal Park Monday. The bodies of the eight killed – including Ken Leung and his two daughters – were Wednesday night flown back to Hong Kong, with bagpipers playing “Amazing Grace” at a poignant airport ceremony. Leung's wife Amy Ng stayed behind as their 18-year-old son Jason fights for his life in intensive care with serious head injuries. The government said a medical charter flight is scheduled to return the pair to Hong Kong Thursday night. Chek Lap Kok airport, one of Asia's busiest, took part in the three minutes' silence with tangy announcements just before 8 A.M. (0000 GMT) urging passengers and staff to pay their respects. Calls for “peace” between Filipinos and Hong Kong citizens began to appear in the Internet as well. “We don't want war (with) Hong Kong. We want peace. Can that be?” read one of the new pages on Facebook. However, a “hate” page showed photos of uniformed Philippine policemen and young students smilingly posing behind the wreck of the hostage bus in front of the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park – demonstrating the insensitivity of some Filipinos to the tragedy. Nevertheless, Cristobal said in a radio interview that officials from Hong Kong and the Philippines are taking concrete steps to heal the wounds caused by the carnage. “The Hong Kong government has been very cordial with us. Their government leaders have repeatedly stressed that sobriety needs to prevail at all times. Hong Kong has a reputation for racial harmony,” Cristobal said in Filipino. “The leaders of Hong Kong have called on the public not to direct their anger and grief at the Filipino workers in the territory because they are not to blame for what happened,” he added. Cristobal said Filipinos in Hong Kong have held prayer vigils and signed condolence books for the victims of the incident. The Philippine consul said his office has yet to verify reports of Filipinos being abused or persecuted because of Monday's incident. He denied reports that some Filipinos have received threats from Hong Kong residents. “I assure you our ties with the Hong Kong government are good. We are helping each other, this sad moment will pass,” he said. Meanwhile, France has advised its nationals to be vigilant in the Philippines. But French authorities did not advise their nationals to avoid the country, saying Monday's “dramatic event” does not reflect a fundamental change in terms of security. Earlier, the United Kingdom advised its nationals as well to be careful in the wake of Monday's incident. “In response to the incident, the British Government has not upgraded the level of our advice and we are not advising against travel to the Philippines. We have, however, included a factual reference to the incident in the text of our travel advice. This is standard practice for events of this type,” the UK Embassy said on its website. Hong Kong had issued a “black” travel alert discouraging travel to the Philippines, shortly after the crisis ended Monday night.
