Marchers in Hong Kong protest Philippine bus siege

HONG KONG — Drawn by a mixture of anger and grief, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents poured into the streets Sunday to protest how the Philippine government handled a bus siege in Manila last Monday that ended in the shooting deaths of eight Hong Kong residents and the dismissed police officer who had taken them hostage.

Protest organizers estimated the crowd at 80,000 people, but the police put it at 30,000.

Either figure would make it the largest protest march in memory against events overseas, although there have been much larger protests in Hong Kong involving local politics or events in mainland China, notably the Tiananmen Square killings in 1989.

Wearing black and white, with yellow ribbons tied around their upper arms to remember the dead, the solemn crowd gathered in sweltering heat in Victoria Park and then marched peacefully more than a mile to the downtown business district, before dispersing quietly. A police spokeswoman said Sunday evening that no arrests had been made.

About 20 Hong Kong legislators led the crowd gathered at an urban park in a short ceremony honoring the dead before setting off on a march to the financial district. The size of the crowd "... shows the anger and unity of the Hong Kong people," lawmaker Cheung Man-kwong said.

But many marchers seemed to be fairly apolitical, soft-spoken members of the middle class who said they had never attended a demonstration before but were offended that the Philippine government had failed to protect the Hong Kong residents aboard the bus. The dismissed police officer, armed with an M-16 assault rifle, had repeatedly been visible during the siege, even waving to onlookers from the bus door, but police snipers had not tried to shoot him through most of the siege.

"Their performance is not acceptable," said Michael Kong, 33, a logistics manager who came with his wife, Anna Ho, a telecommunications manager; both said they had never previously marched for any cause.

President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines drew particular criticism from marchers for failing to show adequate contrition and remorse.

"We don't think that he has apologized to us," said Rachel Lam, a 23-year-old student who also said she had never participated in a demonstration before. "It is very impolite."

The bus killings have prompted some concern that Hong Kong residents might show antagonism toward Filipinos; Hong Kong's population of 7 million includes more than 100,000 live-in Filipino domestic helpers, who come to the city on a special class of work visa.

Domestic helpers work six-day weeks for $460 a month plus room and board, with no eligibility for overtime pay. Their presence in homes has long made them vulnerable targets for abuse, because they frequently borrow heavily to reach Hong Kong but can be sent home at any time by their employers.

Hong Kong's Equal Opportunity Commission, a government agency, issued a statement Wednesday in which it urged "all members of the community to stay calm and, in line with our good tradition of tolerance and understanding, refrain from shifting our anger toward an innocent group, particularly the Filipinos who are living or traveling in Hong Kong."

But there was no sign of malice toward Filipinos at the demonstration Sunday. "I won't be mad at the local Filipinos," said Lin Hengchoi, a 49-year-old electrical contractor who brought his 5-year-old son, Ken, with him to the demonstration.

The Hong Kong government has strongly warned its people against traveling to the Philippines in the near future, and large numbers of Chinese tourists also have reportedly headed home from vacations there. But there was little sign among demonstrators Sunday that the bus killings would fundamentally change their view of the attractiveness of the Philippines as a tourist destination for years to come.

Lin predicted that he and other Hong Kong residents would continue to take vacations in the Philippines.

"I think we will still go," he said.