The news about the Quirino Grandstand hostage drama that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead last Monday, August 24, has many people criticizing the Philippine government and the way authorities handled the situation.
Among actions done by the Hong Kong government was to issue its top-level black travel alert for the Philippines. Hong Kong nationals are advised against traveling to the Philippines.
Many may have condemned the way the hostage drama ended, but for international action star Jackie Chan, who is based in Hong Kong, there is a rational yet sensitive explanation for all of it.
A few hours after the incident, Jackie tweeted on his Twitter account @EyeOfJackieChan: "this kind of things always happen around the world. It happen to hk's people, the whole hk is talking about it. Its really sad."
He also acknowledged the difficult situation the Philippine authorities were in during the incident. In simple logic, he said: "If they killed the guy sooner, they will say why not negotiate first? If they negotiate first, they ask why not kill the guy sooner? So sad."
News of discrimination against Filipinos has also reached the kung-fu star, and this he contradicts. He said in his Twitter account: "HK is a nation built by a lot of people."
He added, "Don't worry, we do not hate!"
Jackie also related an earlier engagement he had in Korea. He said, "I remember the day before in korea we talked about how people should love each other. We already have so many natural disasters...typhoon, tsunami, everything. Humans should be united and not kill or hate each other."