Hostage survivors say they now fear Filipino cops

MANILA, Philippines – Some survivors of the Manila hostage-taking crisis are now apprehensive of having Filipino police officers as their security escorts.

Filipino-Chinese community leader Teresita Ang See, who served as an interpreter for the former hostages, said the Hong Kong tourists were severely traumatized by the incident.

“They even asked the authorities na alisin ang mga pulis na pinadala para bantayan sila,” she said. “Galit sila.”

Ang See, a spokesperson for the Citizens’ Action Against Crime, said the survivors also believe that they were taken hostage by dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza because they were Chinese.

"Mayroon na ngang racial undertones,” she said. “Bakit daw sila ang tinarget at hindi mga puti. Bakit daw mga Pinoy ang unang pinakawalan.”

The families of some of those who died during the hostage crisis also reportedly refused to have the remains of their loved ones undergo an autopsy in the Philippines.

One survivor, who declined to be named, told ABS-CBN News that they are concerned about a possible cover-up in the investigation of the case.

The remains of 8 people who were killed during the hostage drama were loaded Wednesday into a chartered Cathay Pacific flight bound for Hong Kong.

Six Cabinet secretaries of President Benigno Aquino III turned over the bodies to Chinese officials, including Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. - with a report from Henry Omaga-Diaz, ABS-CBN News