More Singapore flags go up in smoke in Manila
More Singapore flags go up in smoke in Manila
By Rene Pastor
MANILA (Reuter): Filipinos torched thousands of Singaporean flags around Manila yesterday in a fresh wave of protests against the hanging just over a week ago by the island state of convicted double murderer Flor Contemplacion.
The new protests came one day before the executed Filipina maid was to be buried in San Pablo town south of Manila and as Singapore leader Goh Chok Tong wrote to Philippine President Fidel Ramos urging him to patch up the spat between the two Southeast Asian allies.
The row over the refusal by Singapore to delay the hanging of Contemplacion has bitterly divided the two members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"He (Goh) wants to maintain good relations between the Philippines and Singapore," Press Secretary Jesus Sison told reporters when asked the contents of the Singapore leaders' letter, which Ramos received on Friday evening.
"He says he has ordered the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to say anything on the matter of the Contemplacion case," Sison said.
"He asked them not to make any further comments on the case to maintain and improve strained relations."
Ramos downgraded relations on Wednesday and vowed to cut ties with Singapore if a presidential panel found the 42-year-old mother of four had been a victim of injustice.
ASEAN links the two nations with Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
Outside Manila's presidential palace, thousands of workers and students tore up thousands of Singaporean flags and then burned them while chanting slogans condemning Ramos' failure to save Contemplacion.
At police headquarters, officers used the Singapore flag as a welcome mat to wipe their shoes.
But the husband of the dead Filipina distanced himself from the demonstrators by writing to Ramos to thank him for trying to save his wife from the gallows.
"We want to thank you for the help you have extended to our family, especially the offer of scholarships for my children," Efren Contemplacion said in his letter.
Promise
"I promise you that Flor's sacrifice will not be wasted and the thousands of Filipinos working in other countries will be given fresh protection," Ramos replied.
Contemplacion has been hailed by many as a national heroine and recognized as a symbol of Filipino migrant workers who have been abused around the world.
Poverty has driven three million Filipinos to work abroad. Singapore had earlier protested to the Philippines after the mayor of the southern city of Davao stood by and allowed demonstrators to burn its flag.
But the government rejected the protest and told Singapore the constitutional right of demonstrators to free expression would not be violated in the Philippines.
Many Filipinos believe Contemplacion was innocent of murdering another Filipina maid and drowning a three-year-old Singaporean boy in May, 1991.