Mass for hostage dead on Tuesday
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Boholanos will pay tribute to the victims of the Manila tourist bus hostage
in a mass at the St. Joseph Cathedral here on Tuesday at eight in the
morning.
Gov. Edgar Chatto enjoined all department and satellite office heads of
the provincial government, owners and operators of beach resorts, hotels,
restaurants and other tourism-related establishments, religious and cultural
organizations, and Chinese groups to attend the mass.
The governor said this is intended to express Boholanos’ sympathy to the
bereaved families of the foreign tourists from Hong Kong who were gunned
down in the 11-hour bloody hostage drama.
Chatto, former chairman of the tourism committee in Congress, convened
the top military and police officials here on the very night of the Manila
incident.
He demanded from the peacekeepers and law enforcers a sustained peace
and a maintained order in the province amidst fear of any possible local
repercussion of the tragic hostage-taking.
Hong Kong has issued a black travel warning to its residents to cancel
their Philippine travel. Those who are still visiting the country have been
directed to get back as soon as possible.
While the Tuesday morning mass is held, which is simultaneous
nationwide, the Department of Tourism is into a “public relations offensive”
cushioning the impact of the tragic tourist bus siege.
Travelers from Hong Kong are the fifth biggest tourist group in the
Philippines, second in Central Visayas and third in Bohol.
Chatto would like to tell the world of travel that Bohol has enhanced its
tourism image because Boholanos put diamond value to both the life of
nature and the culture that prices and prizes human life. (Ven rebo Arigo)
