Compensation in hostage incident should be just and pragmatic

迷你倉 　　After Bernardito Ang, the city councillor from Manila who specially came to Hong Kong to deal with the aftermath of the hostage incident, met with legislator James To Kun-sun, who represents victims' families, twice, not all differences have been resolved, but at least things have got on the right track, giving hopes of putting an end to the case that has dragged along for three years.　　Hong Kong victims in the incident ask for four things: apology, compensation, punishment and prevention of a similar incident. Hongkongers are most dissatisfied with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III in apology from the government. In addition to being insincere, he also made small moves. Asking him to apologize is futile. Hongkongers should not let him put obstacles on the way to create stumbling blocks in solving the problem.　　The Manila city council recently approved of mayor Estrada's visit to Hong Kong to make an apology this month. This heavyweight politician, a former president, delegated Ang as mayor representative to Hong Kong to start councillor-to-councillor negotiations, opening up room for solving the issues.Narrowing of differences in compensation pending　　The two sides set out their own conditions during the first round of negotiations, with big differences, especially a big gap remained between Manila's proposed compensation and the amount wanted by the victims and families. After the meeting, Ang even angrily asked if the life of Hong Kong people should be more valuable than Filipinos'.　　Differences between the two sides narrowed in the second meeting on Thursday, with developments in line with the bargaining process in ordinary negotiations. People hope differences will keep narrowing until an agreement is reached.　　The compensation Hong Kong victims asked for seems very high to the Philippines, but it is no extortion. This is because there is an extremely big gap in the standards of living of the two places. A Filipino maid working in Hong Kong may be earning meagre monthly wages in the eyes of Hong Kong people, but the money she sends back home is already enough to support a family. The future daily care and medical expenses incurred by the Hongkongers' casualties and loss this time will naturally be many times more than those in the Philippines.　　In a personal injury compensation case ruled by a local court on Thursday, a Filipino man who worked as a private driver and was knocked onto the ground when playing basketball in Victoria Park, seriously hurt landing on his hindbrain which left him unable to take care of himself, was awarded over $5.5 million by the court as compensation.Resolving the issues benefits the Philippines　　Compared to this single compensation of over $5 million, the Manila hostage incident killed eight and seriously injured two Hongkongers. The city government initially proposed a total compensation of US$1 million (around HK$7.8 million), which not surprisingly is far from what Hongkongers consider reasonable.　　To the government of Manila, which is already in big debts, the compensation in the hostage incident is astronomical. Former mayor Alfredo Lim overly expanded staffing during his term, leaving behind a mess for Estrada to fix. An audit report last year said the city government owed 3.55 billion Pesos (over HK$630 million) with only 1 billion Pesos (about HK$180 million) in cash. It challenged the city government's ability to pay.　　This time the city government has to raise fund from the local business circle to compensate to Hong Kong people. From a pragmatic angle, Hong Kong people cannot get the exact compensation they want. To the local business sector, successfully resolving the issues will not only be a moral goodwill but also an exchange for Hong Kong's lifting the black travel alert on the country and avoiding other sanctions, which will benefit the local economy. Hong Kong and the Philippines should both compromise to get the matter settled earlier.Published in the Sing Tao Daily on November 1Vocabularyaftermath (n) —— 善後insincere (adj) —— 不誠懇的futile (adj) —— 徒勞的obstacle (n) —— 障礙heavyweight (n) —— 重量級人物delegate (v) —— 委派 narrow (v) —— 縮窄extortion (n) —— 苛索astronomical (adj) —— 天文數字的goodwill (n) —— 好意Useful Termsstumbling block —— 絆腳石bargaining process —— 討價還價過程standard of living —— 生活水平medical expenses —— 醫療開支black travel alert —— 黑色旅遊警示Did you know?　　A turnaround was made after a two-hour meeting on Thursday between legislator and lawyer James To Kun-sun and Security Bureau officials and Bernardito Ang, a city councillor from Manila, where eight Hongkongers died in a hostage incident three years ago. "Today's discussions were useful and helpful to narrow the differences," said a joint statement from the bureau, representatives of victims' families and Ang. To said Ang offered a new compensation package and that earlier differences in the demands - including punishment of officials involved in the botched rescue and measures to protect tourists - have been narrowed. However, he refused to disclose details, saying that "good progress" has been made. To, who represents the injured and families of the deceased, said they spent a lot of time clarifying "misunderstandings" over information, including the compensation figures reported by the media.Q&A1. The word _____ in the fifth paragraph is the opposite of "gapped".2. A Filipino man was awarded over HK$5.5 million by the court as _____.3. In the passage, the word _____ means "usual".4. The city government's initial proposal of US$1 million compensation is far from ____________.5. According to the last paragraph, Hong Kong and the Philippines should both _____.Answers1. narrowed2. compensation3. ordinary4. what Hongkongers consider reasonable5. compromise翻譯︰George人質賠償 宜公道兼務實　　專程來港解決人質事件善後問題的馬尼拉市議員洪英鐘，兩會代表本港死傷者家屬的立法會議員涂謹申後，雙方雖然沒有解決所有分歧，但至少步入正軌，為了結這宗拖拉了三年的事件，提供了希望。　　事件中的受害港人，希望滿足四項要求，包括道歉、賠償、懲處和防範類似事件不再發生。當中菲律賓政府道歉方面，港人最不滿總統阿奎諾三世的態度，他沒有誠意道歉之餘還玩弄小動作，要他道歉恍如緣木求魚。港人不宜任由他從中作梗，成為解決問題的絆腳石。　　馬尼拉市議會最近通過，由市長埃斯特拉達本月親自來港道歉，這位曾任總統的重量級政客，委派洪英鐘以市長代表身分來港，雙方展開議員對議員的商討，為解決事件開拓了空間。賠償分歧有待縮窄　　雙方在日前的首輪商討中，各自開出條件，分歧甚大，尤其是馬尼拉方面的賠償方案，與受害人及家屬要求的金額和安排相距甚遠。洪英鐘會後甚至憤然質問：難道香港人的生命比菲律賓人值錢？　　到昨日的第二次會議，雙方縮窄了分歧，事態發展，沒有偏離一般談判的討價還價過程。大家期待最後不斷縮窄分歧至達成協議。　　香港受害人開出的賠償要求，以菲律賓角度來看非常高，但是並非苛索，原因是港菲兩地生活水平差異極大。一個在港工作的菲傭，以港人角度來看月入甚低，但其匯款已經足以在菲律賓養家。港人今次的傷亡損失，所要應付日後的生活照顧費用和醫療開支，自然比在菲律賓多很多倍。　　本港法庭昨日剛審結的一宗人身傷亡賠償案件，案中在港任職私人司機的菲律賓漢，在維園打籃球時被推倒，後腦�地重傷，導致生活不能治理，獲法庭裁定可以得到超過五百五十萬元的賠償。解決事件對菲有利　　以這宗單一賠償逾五百萬元的案件作為比較，馬尼拉人質事件港人八死兩重傷，市政府初時提出的總賠償額是一百萬美元（約七百八十萬港元），遠遠不及港人認為合理的數目，就不足為奇。　　對本已債台高築的馬尼拉市政府而言，人質事件賠款卻是天文數字。前市長林雯洛任內過分擴張人事編制，留下爛攤子給埃斯特拉達收拾。去年當地審計報告指市政府欠債逾三十五億五千萬披索（約六億三千多萬港元），而手頭現金只有十億披索（約一億八千多萬港元），質疑市政府的償付能力。　　今次市政府要情商當地商界，募捐集資來賠償港人。從務實角度來看，港人不可能收到心目中的十足十賠償；對當地商界來說，成功解決問題，不但是人道上的心意，而且換取港府取消對當地的黑色旅遊警示，以及避免出現其他制裁措施，對當地經濟亦有利。港菲雙方宜繼續各讓一步，令事情早日解決。刊於十一月一日《星島日報》儲存倉