PRESIDENT Aquino on Tuesday expressed “deep regret” over the hostage-taking tragedy at the Quirino grandstand in Manila that marked its first year that day, but stood firm against issuing a formal apology over what happened.

Mr. Aquino said in an interview at Pier 13 in South Harbor that a formal apology from the government, as demanded by the families of the victims and survivors of the tragedy, is not warranted since the government itself did not inflict “grievous harm” on the victims.

He reiterated that the incident—which led to the death of nine people, including eight Hong Kong tourists—was the act of only “one man” and not the Philippine government.

“Again, we deeply regret what has transpired. [But] apology connotes that the state did them grievous harm. I don’t think that is correct. This was the act of one man, in the same token that [when] some of our citizens have been affected elsewhere in the world, we do not blame the entire population.

“We know that there are criminal elements, there are mentally deranged individuals who pose a threat to anybody regardless of race or country of origin,” he said.

The daylong hostage drama which began when dismissed policeman Senior Insp. Rolando Mendoza boarded a bus carrying 23 tourists outside Fort Santiago in Manila and took hold of the vehicle and its passengers as it reached Rizal Park.

Mendoza, who was killed by his former colleagues after the negotiations failed, demanded for an immediate resolution of charges filed against him by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Mr. Aquino made the statement when asked for his message to the families of the victims and survivors who commemorated the first anniversary of the tragedy in Manila, and renewed their demand for a formal apology from him, reasonable compensation and justice for the victims.

The President said of the three demands, the government has accomplished “at least two,” apparently referring to the compensation and justice.

Palace officials had earlier referred to the private-led “Solidarity Fund” for the families of the victims, and the status of cases filed against concerned officials and disciplinary action taken against them.

“We sympathize and we continue to sympathize with them. We really wish it did not happen. We hope that we had performed better at that point in time. But in the same token that in Norway, there was this tragedy that couldn’t have been prevented because of, similarly, a lone solitary deranged gunman. So can we really be faulted?” he said.

The President was referring to Anders Behring Breivik, who killed a total of 77 people in Norway through a bombing in Oslo and a massacre on a youth camp in July.

He said in the case of the August 23 tragedy “there was such a rapid turn of events” and that it was discovered that “all of the victims had been shot before our forces even moved against them.”

Mr. Aquino expressed hope that the victims and the survivors would see the improvements made by the government in tourist safety following the tragedy.

“We understand they’re hurt but hopefully they will understand also that we have improved and we have been improving from then to now,” he said.

Asked if he would appeal to those concerned to consider moving on from the tragedy, he said, “That, of course, of their own voluntary decision. We have tried to assist them to overcome this tragedy. I think they are aware of the fact that both private and public concerns from this country have really tried to assist them in their moving on.”

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday the tragic Luneta hostage-taking incident has given it a lesson although it still continues to grieve over the loss of lives, one year after the daylong drama.

“That day will forever be etched in our memory as an institution, not only because of the tragic loss of lives, but also because of the events that opened our eyes to the weaknesses in our systems and procedures and the inadequacies in our training and equipment,” said PNP Chief Director General Raul Bacalzo.

Bacalzo and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo led other police officials in marking the first anniversary of the hostage-taking incident through a Mass held in Camp Crame. The event was also attended by members of Chinese organizations in the country.

“The PNP suffered from the incident, and we were determined to understand the whys of how things happened the way they did and to act on the how of doing things better in crisis-management mode,” the PNP chief said.

“Even as we grieved for the departed and assessed the events, our collective will guided us to regroup and take action,” he added.

Bacalzo said the incident prodded the PNP to organize, train and equip with the help of President Aquino.

“We have organized our units, identified tasks and capabilities and enabled interoperability,” he said.

“We have trained and updated operations manuals in critical incident management, special unit operations, special weapons and tactics and hostage negotiation,” he added.

The Chinese-Filipinos who attended the Mass said it was time to move on, although they were sympathizing with the relatives of those who died in the hostage drama.

“We need to move forward in our society, that’s why we attended this Mass. Everything should be at peace and there should no longer be arguments,” said Tan Ching of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said despite the incident, they were still supporting the PNP.

Relatives and friends of the eight Chinese also held a ceremony at the Rizal Park to mark the event.