We should have done better, says negotiator

Romeo Salvador, one of the two police negotiators in the Aug. 23, 2010, hostage drama, on Tuesday stood on the same spot where last year he was filled with hope that negotiations with the hostage-taker would succeed.

“I thought I would just offer a simple prayer, walk to the site and leave. But it was very hard for me. My knees shook and I was trembling as I was walking to the spot,” Salvador said in Filipino.

He approached the shrine of flowers and candles—on the exact spot where the tourist bus had stood—intending to offer a prayer and then leave, not wanting to attract the attention of the survivors and relatives of the victims who were holding a remembrance ceremony at the site.

But just as Salvador feared, he was recognized by some members of the local and foreign media.

A Hong Kong reporter angrily asked him: “Why haven’t you resigned?” Another foreign reporter said: “Why are you still a negotiator?”

One local television reporter simply asked, “Why are you here?”

“I am here to pray and ask for forgiveness,” Salvador told reporters.

“We did not fully fulfill our job. We should have done better,” he said.