MANILA, Philippines ? President Aquino has apologized for the mishandling of the Quirino Grandstand hostage crisis and Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang has accepted his apology, a Malacañang official said on government radio station Saturday.

Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma made the disclosure after Hong Kong lawmakers demanded that the President issue a public apology for the fiasco that resulted in the deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists on August 23.

?President Aquino has apologized and this has been acknowledged by Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang,? Coloma said in an interview over the government-run radio station dzRB.

?I personally saw the statement of Chief Executive Tsang. This was a video clip wherein he acknowledged that President Aquino called him up, offered apologies and that he accepted the apology,? he added.