Sorry Seems the Hardest Word..

Its been a year since the bloody Manila bus hostage siege.  And to many, the incident is but another story of case of senseless killings. Hapless murders happen everyday anywhere in the globe.  But for some reason, my heart does ache for this particular incident.. And I couldn't quite explain why.

The victims' families arrived the other day to commemorate the event and to reach out once more to the Philippine government in their attempt to seek justice for their love-ones.  Among their demands was a simple "apology" from President Aquino himself.  Such, they claim, is the least they deserve to assuage their grief.  To their dismay, Pres. Aquino vehemently refused to yield to such demand.

The victims' families on a short media conference held for them after they arrived in Manila to commemorate the Manila bus hostage incident a year ago. Image source.

The President explained that seeking apologies for what happened would connote that the state is taking responsibility for what happened.  He says that the incident should be attributed to the gunman alone and to nobody else. 

"This was the act of one man, in the same token that some of us citizens have been affected elsewhere in the world, we do not blame the entire population," Aquino said.

Sorry does remain to be the "hardest" word.  For a  man as principled and as important as the president of this country, "sorry" isn't just a word.  It speaks alot about his conviction.


On the contrary, I wish he said "sorry" instead.  Not to defeat himself nor assume full responsibility for what happened.  But as a human being, isn't it the least we can do even to total strangers?  We say sorry when no other utterance can enunciate the sympathy we feel for another's loss?

Nothing would suffice... No words. No tears. No fortune can ever fill the void left by another man. Even by those of total strangers.

So to them...

Image source.

...I send my deepest, sincerest apologies...