Parallels: Tiananmen Square and Luneta
Author: Unknown
(This is a re-post from FB Updates of a friend)
The known facts are these:
On August 19, 2005, Emmanuel “Bong” Madrigal, a Manila-based Filipino executive of the multinational Shell, was visiting Beijing on vacation with his wife Vivian, his daugher Regina Mia, and two younger daughters. That day, they rode a tourist bus to Tiananmen Square, the heart of the capitol. Upon arriving at the square, Emmanuel Madrigal was the first to descend from the bus, followed by Vivian and Regina Mia. A Chinese man wielding a scythe–in some reports it was described as a sword–suddenly appeared out of nowhere and hacked Emmanuel across his torso. He died on the spot. The man also attacked and seriously wounded Vivian. He then slashed at and killed Regina Mia. By this time, bystanders were trying to subdue the man, and Vivian shouted to her two other daughters to get away and save themselves. Somehow the girls made their way back to the hotel. Vivian was brought to a Beijing hospital, where she died several days later of her injuries.
An Associated Press report still circulating on the internet states that the killer was Wang Gongzuo, 25, a farmer from eastern China’s Jiangsu province. He was sentenced to death for the murder of the Madrigals and executed a few weeks later, in September. The AP report states: ‘Wang’s motive for killing the two is unclear. After the incident occurred the Beijing Morning Post reported that he had wanted to ‘affect society using extreme actions,’ but didn’t elaborate.
” Reflect on the parallels. A family of vacationers on a tourist bus: the Leungs and the Madrigals. A killer out to “affect society using extreme actions”: Mendoza and Wang. A massacre in a public place of symbolic significance: The Quirino grandstand, where the presidential inauguration had been held just weeks before, and site of the civil society protests against the Marcos regime; and Tiananmen Square, since ancient times the symbol of the centralized power of the Chinese state, and site of the 1991 civil protests against the government. In both incidents, the state failed miserably in protecting innocent tourists.
And there the parallels end. President Aquino has apologized to the families of Mendoza’s victims and conveyed his sorrow to the people of Hongkong, Chief Executive Donald Tsang, and Ambassador Lin Jian Chao. The Philippine National Police acknowledge that they botched matters beyond comprehension. Philippine legislators, ahead of their Hongkong counterparts, called for a full investigation. Philippine media organizations are looking to their own culpability in the affair. And masses of ordinary Filipinos, on TV, radio, print, and the Internet, are expressing collective horror, remorse and pity over the terrible fate of the innocent tourists, and bow their heads in shame before the Hong Kong people’s sorrow and anger. That is how it should be, that is only right.
But. To this day, five years after it happened, there is no public record of any Chinese official acknowledging the tourist killings in Tiananmen Square and apologizing to the Madrigals, much less the Filipino people, for the murder of Emmanuel, Regina Mia and Vivian. Not a single expression of regret that the Chinese police failed in their duty to protect the lives of innocent tourists in the very heart of Beijing, in the symbolic center of a state that prides itself most of all for its ability to control and contain disorder. There was a total blackout on the part of the Chinese press, and, according to another news report, government censors quickly blocked many internet sites where Chinese users had begun to post comments about the killing. So we will likely never know what ordinary Chinese citizens had to say about about the incident. Maybe some of them were actually sorry for what happened. The closest thing to expressed regret was in fact the final reported action of the killer Wang, who waived his right to appeal the sentence of execution, and got a bullet in the back of his head.
To add to the horror, it would appear that the Arroyo administration was complicit in the silence. No public statement was ever made by the Philippine government regarding the incident. Unlike in Hongkong, no flags were flown at half-mast in Manila, and no three-minute silence was observed to mark the deaths of the innocent Filipino tourists. No demand has ever been made by any Filipino official for an apology, and for an accounting. A full investigation of the Quirino Grandstand killing is ogoing. But what of that other killing, also in August, five years ago in Tiananmen Square?
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reynz is one Uragon and a Filipino-American, has many years of public accounting & auditing, broadcast investments, housing tax credits and equity investments as his background. Based in the US, he maintains his personal and humor blog at reyna elena dot com. A graduate of Aquinas U, he went to GWU and Temple U in the United States.
i miss reading the blog Talk Talk China
what happened to that blog? can you send a link?
Talk Talk China already closed down. From Danwei.
thank you for the link Katherine.
I don’t recall na lumabas ito sa news. Clearly tinago lang ito from the people and the government just keep mum. Kaloka. I wonder what happened to the children who survived. I hope they’re okay.
i read about this but i completely forgot until i read Aurora Pijuan’s updates. she did not write this by the way – so don’t hit her haha, am just sharing this article for people to know – and yeah, did we get any apologies from the Chinese? i think, HK politicians are using this tragedy for their own political purpose.
I doubt the veracity of this story. The Madrigals in the Pinas are very influential for them to keep silent about this. Kung totoo ito, nag-privilege speech na sana si Jamby sa senado. Alam naman natin na noong panahon ni GMA, naka-abang lang ang oposisyon ng kahit anong maliit na issue para palakihin. Tsaka, maniniwala ka ba na kaya ni GMA na pakiusapan ang media para hindi i-report ito?
Sa palagay ko, isa na naman itong kasinungalingan ng present admin to do damage control. Kita mo naman kung ilan ag version nila kung bakit di natanggap ng president ang tawag ni Tsang.
It doesn’t look like hoax Danny. The information below is taken from the link that Silver provided below:
Wang Gongzuo (王工作), a 25-year-old man from Jiangsu, was sentenced to death on September 29 after the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court found him guilty of killing a retired Filipino oil company executive and his teenage daughter in Tiananmen Square in April 2005. The victims, Emmanuel Madrigal and Regina Mia, were visiting Beijing on a package tour. The motivation for the attack, undertaken in broad daylight, is not known, but according to a report posted on the Court’s internal website, Wang, a farmer from Jiangsu Province, attacked his victims “to vent his anger against society.”[13] Wang waived his right to appeal after the sentencing. Four Filipino diplomats attended the trial.[14]
source: http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/article?revision_id=25192&item_id=25166
Thanks Snow. Actually, I also saw the links provided by Silver but it was too late and I can’t delete what I just posted.
@danny,
that’s why I’m surprised this never came out during the Gloria administration or not too many people know about this.
@danny-No problem bro.
@reynz-Based on the information, 4 Filipino diplomats were present. Sinu-sino kaya present nung mga panahon na yon.
you are comparing apples and oranges, sabi ni bff benigs
@danny,
i know! hehehe! Benigno loves me, what can i do? hehe!
Reynz, ABS-CBN News mentioned Barrio Siete again.
Here’s the link: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/08/29/10/what-about-filipinos-killed-tianamen-square
….A post, which can be read on the blog BarrioSiete.com as well as in an abs-cbnNEWS.com comment, pointed out similarities between the Tianamen Square killing and the Manila siege….
@snow,
naku ha? the honor is not mine, i hope whoever the writer of this one shows up so we could accord him/her the proper award haha. anyway, i would thank Aurora Pijuan for posting this story on his wall.
@reynz-i agree with you but you also served as a platform for this article.
This was a highly publicized story. It was all over the news pero hindi nagpa-interview sa media ang mga Madrigals.
siguro kasi mas marunong tayong umunawa kahit pa mababa lang ang pinag-aralan natin. yun yung bagay na hindi na kailangang pumunta sa school para matutunan. na hindi kailangang sisihin ang buong bansa at mga kalahi nito sa kasalanang ginawa lang ng isang engot. ganun, simpleng pang-unawa, na hndi nila magawa. iba lang talaga culture natin.
@bisita,
Nice insight. Pero wag natin sabihin na mababa ang aral natin. Pare-parehas lang tayo na kayang matuto. Iba lang ang curriculum natin kesa sa curriculum nila.
I am not aware na may ganito palang nangyari sa China until now. Thanks Reynz for sharing…
I pity the children. I agree Mel, I hope the children are okay.
This is intriguing. I have never heard this news before. Might as well conduct research sa net and across news sources. Hindi rin ito nagbroadcast sa local news sources.
Here are the links that I have found regarding the mentioned incident. Kindly copy paste na lang guys.
http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/article?revision%5fid=25192&item%5fid=25166
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/tak2001jp/20050516
This link naman e nakaparallel sa Beijing knife attacks. Napagkamalang hapon ang mga Madrigals: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2008/08/09/47040/american-killed-another-wounded.html
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2005/09/30/chinese.man.faces.death.sentence.for.killing.two.filipino.tourists.(1.p.m.).html
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/5-10-4/32952.html
[...] Reyna Elena. I don’t know what kind of point blogger Elena was trying to make when he wrote an article highlighting the murder in Beijing of Filipino tourists Emmanuel Madrigal and his daughter Regina [...]
LOL Anti-Pinoy.
Nagbabasa ba kayo? HINDI SI REYNA ELENA ANG SUMULAT NG ARTICLE NOH! ANG BOBO. LECHE.
PABALIKIN SA GRADE 1 ANG DI MARUNONG BUMASA NG AYOS.
hehehe! Benigno just want my attention. It’s been awhile kasi. So, I left a comment on his entry that he’s got it wrong hahaha! He never makes mistakes pa naman di ba? Well, I hope he approves my comment.
Alam mo naman Reynz na mas mabilis sumingkit ang mata ko kesa sa Chinese pag nakakaencounter ako ng kabobohan somewhere. Ano ba yan.
and what about the filipino victims of acid throwing incidents in hongkong a few years back? nagapologize ba ang hk govt.?
acid throwing?! anak nang patola! any links???
Yes. Inasikaso agad ng hk government pero di nila alam kung sino ung gumawa. i think the grandfather or the dad ata was badly burned by the acid because of protecting the smallest child with them. sobra noh?
OMG! grabe pala nangyari sa mga madrigal! and i did not even hear about this news in the US (i think) it’s been awhile now kasi! and yes, i’m still reading this entry and i could not believe what happened. The Gloria administration really did not care much about the Madrigals huh?
Ni hindi ko naaninagan sa balita yan Reynz. Oh well.
Excerpt from teh ABS-CBN article:
““Lest we forget- Pinoy Tourists massacred in Tiananmen Square,” user Rational said that both incidents show that “security lapses happen everywhere.” Read here
Rational added, “The point is we acted reasonably to an isolated incident. They are over-reacting. They are calling our cops incompetent while theirs are too.”
Read it here: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/08/29/10/what-about-filipinos-killed-tianamen-square
Shoot sa banga ng undin yan ah.
While the Tinanmen Square incident can considered a security lapse China’s part, it was more of a random incident than what happened in Quirino. Besides, we shouldn’t compare this to the China as the debacle involves Hong Kong, which is semi-independent from Beijing.
Canada has not asked the Philippines to apologize for the Quirino Grandstand massacre. Neither has England.
@lourdes, yes that’s true. like what’s written on that pinoy forum that i quoted above.
The Canadian government is not asking the Philippine government to apologize.
However, a few Canadian citizens are expressing disgust about incompetence and disrespect.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/commentary/2010/08/28/where-lay-blame-manila-hostage-debacle-everywhere
we are a weak nation Lourdes that’s why.
Thanks for the link Lourdes.
Reynz,
Wag naman weak nation. We are a nation filled with potential – mismanaged nga lang ng government.
maybe i should stand corrected, pero isang pitik lang tau nang Chinese dahil instead of the Philippines to be a strong republic, all these inept and corrupt officials were the ones who got richer!
Snow, Reynz, silver and many millions of Pilipinos were not responsible — they do not have to share the guilt, they were not there.
BUT names can be named — Pilipinas authorities who have demonstrated incompetence, cowardice and irresponsibility.
http://www.president.gov.ph/titonoy/default.aspx
“Pilipinas authorities who have demonstrated incompetence, cowardice and irresponsibility.” yes my dear. They would not even investigate who killed Ninoy. They could not even give justice to the Ampatuan victims. The list is eternal.
Yes, Reynz. The list is FREAKING ETERNAL.
Lourdes,
Thanks for dropping by sa Barrio. Dalaw ka ulet.
yeap! but you see, now: we have a new leadership, out to change! huh! as i have said in my FB updates and let me quote myself hahaha:
ayan. tigasin kasi. an tigas nang ulo! ayaw makinig!
Hayzt.
like Benigno, even psycho blogger Paul Farol erroneously misquoted you as the writer. bitter bloggers trying to win your royal glance?
The parallels begin and end with the settings. Yes, both had innocent families as victims in a crime perpetrated by men removed from sanity. However, there is a crucial difference. In Beijing, the deranged man delivered death almost instantaneously, and it was the Madrigals’ misfortune that police weren’t nearby when they were attacked. At the Quirino Grandstand, the police had ten hours to pacify or neutralize the hostage-taker and save the tourists. They did neither. In Beijing, bystanders restrained the man until police could come over to arrest him. In Manila, bystanders watched with glee and took souvenir pictures before, during and after the hostage crisis. Two reporter friends of mine lost their personal belongings in a matter of seconds, when gunfire made everyone duck for cover. That’s Beijing, and that’s Manila.
“In Manila, bystanders watched with glee and took souvenir pictures before, during and after the hostage crisis. ”
I bet you, this must be a “culture thing”. A lot of People in Manila would actually ran and watch the gunfight. I just seem to notice.
I agree with @Shafara.
The incident at the Tiananmen is a split-second incident that even “Rambo” might not be able to act immediately nor foresee. The Quirino incident dragged on for 11 hours?!We had all the time to do something about it.
Well, the Tiananmen incident was reported in our local papers. (I guess some of you missed reading the report that particular day it came out’ maybe?) Try searching in our local papers website. They may still have the links? I specifically remember Arroyo addressing this incident. I guess it was not as loud though. And I guess it was also our fault as fellow Filipinos to have not cried “foul” loud enough as the Chinese does now, didn’t we? Or are we just a forgiving country?
There is no point, pointing fingers at the past administration, because clearly, these problems are deep-rooted. Long before we were born. Our government system has been sick, terminally sick for almost a generation, so no amount of finger-pointing will ever miraculously change it now. It will just leave a bitter taste to some who may see this as the present administration’s way of avoiding faults they also clearly have done.
I condole with the victim’s family, and truly understands and expects the outrage we are getting now. Let them vent.
“There is no point, pointing fingers at the past administration, because clearly, these problems are deep-rooted. Long before we were born. Our government system has been sick, terminally sick for almost a generation, so no amount of finger-pointing will ever miraculously change it now. It will just leave a bitter taste to some who may see this as the present administration’s way of avoiding faults they also clearly have done” – LIKE!!!
The Tianamen incident was a highly publicized one but the Madrigrals stayed away from media. The declined to be interviewed. Natatandaan ko ‘to kasi at that time, I wanted to go to China but I got scared.
Why many people did not remember? Bakit nga ba? Maybe because a lot of people doesn’t care or they understood it was an accident ot an isolated case.
The difference? Yong sa Tianamen, biglaan. Yong sa Quirino Grand Stand, may chance pa sana na mailigtas lahat ng hostages.
i read an article nina that says that the Madrigals preferred to be quiet about what happened and asked for privacy. maybe this is the reason why we have not heard much about them. salamat sa mga links.
For the record though on the article/story above… the wife survived and the 2 daughters. Their faith has kept them strong amidst the tragedy.
that’s very nice to hear aggy. thanks for the update.
Thanks for recalling the incident in Tiananmen Square I read news but I don’t remember what our government help extended to the Madrigals…
This is real story for those who are saying that this is hoax.
The family is friend to my brother in-law.
Kunsabagay biglaan nga naman ang nangyari doon sa Beijing compared sa nangyari sa Quirino grandstand. And the family involved pinili nila to be in private. I wish them well.
This article was written by songwriter Jim Paredes. I think this was his latest article that was publishe in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
The Chinese gov’t. did not have to apologize for those murders because it was out of their hands. Everything was over in seconds. The Chinese government did not have time to react or make decisions on how to save those people. They did not have 11 hours to negotiate/ plan unlike the WPD.
It was really a horrible story about what happened w/the Madrigals.My condolences & Prayers w/ the Families.I did’nt heard about it,its only now that i’ve read this article. I just don’t understand our Government,past or present gov’t, incompetence & negligent.I’ve heard a lot of Domestic helpers in Hongkong or Singapore, Saudi Arabia etc., are maltreated by their Employers.,but what does our government are doing? nothing i think.
Our neighbor countries ay masyado na tayong mina-maliit nila dhil palagi na lang tayo tumatahimik! two friends of my relatives told us a story that they were spending their vacation in Hongkong & it so happened at that time,they were in an elavator in one of the building,inside the elevator, there’s a poster nakadikit daw sa dingding doon at could you imagine it,ang nakasulat doon sa poster, “Dogs & cats are allowed to ride an elevator but Filipinos are prohibited to ride! So arrogant, hypocrite, disrespectful people. Ano ba ang akala nila sa sarili nila! Its already too much ang mga ginagawa ng mga neighbor country natin. Its only sad that, mga kababayan natin eh don’t have d. chance to earned a living in our own land that’s why nagtitiis na lang sila magtrabaho sa ibang bansa. And now,China are making bad comments to our land,for what happened w/ those chinese hostages. we don’t like it either for what happened. we condemmed killings all over the world. Now,Chinese people fr. China, Hongkong or whatever,they’re condemming us! that is Rediculous.I just hope later on ,the Chinese people would realize that we are not respnsible for what happened &its unfair condeming & maltreating us.
What about the case of the Madrigals! did the Chinese people apologize for what happened w/ them. I guess not! Typisch, bec. China is a communist country & killing & torture is only normal for them.
now they’re making a lot of accusation & condeming all the people in Philippines. as you can see & observed it that those chinese are so intelligent & broad minded! Sorry of being sarcastic but that is true! how can you blame the entire country of doing such a thing of killing.Filipinos are only one in the entire Asia, who are very patience,keeping always a low profile,keep one’s head down,always act w/ restraint, Kindhearted & have fear of “God”. We don’t deserved this kind of bad accusation.
Guys, I’ve read the above and I found that some are really confused. I just got back from China and Hong Kong, and everywhere I asked or conversed, the people in HK and China never said they blamed the Filipino people. In fact, they said they like the Filipinos very much. They are just angry at how OUR GOVERNMENT handled the situation.
yes okay, not all Chinese are bitter to us but their Government told all over the World,by CNN,BBC & etc. that” Filipinos” are prohibited to visit their own country, Korea also & I’ve heard India too.it was told by CNN.They made our country Philippines as black listed for vacation & made bad image of us. They are angry w/ our government, its understandable! we are also angry w/ our government but before they made bad comment to our government,or made persecution ,let them first obeserved their own government. They’re Government are much worst, heartless,than our government, by corruption,sorry to say that i guess Philippines is no. 1, but anyway, what do you expect for a country which is a communist country. Chinese people or any other people in general, for them don’t have the rights at all ,only their own government have the rights! Its good that now their Economy is getting better, its bec. also w/ the help of the Americans& Germany etc., w/out those rich country,up to now their economy would not be better. they are really good for imitating all the products of all neighbor countries.they don’t have their own identity at all.I like Japanese people much better, they have good behavior & have respect w/ other people’s feelings.The Truth is;I really don’t like the Chinese at all, sorry to say that but when they hurt the feelings of my Country men,I’m really divastating & don’t just sit here & watch what they’re doing to my country.We are the most hospitable ,friendly country all over asia. As I’ve observed,many countries take us for granted, maybe bec. we always have a low profile.