PH hopes for justice 6 years since downing of MH17 flight

“As a grieving nation, the Philippines on this solemn day renews its solidarity with the governments of other grieving nations who lost citizens in that ill-fated flight, and offers its prayers to the families and loved ones of the victims as they continue to suffer this insurmountable loss,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in a statement on Friday. (File Photo By Patrick Roque/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

MANILA – The Philippine government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), remains hopeful that justice would be served six years since the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.

“As a grieving nation, the Philippines on this solemn day renews its solidarity with the governments of other grieving nations who lost citizens in that ill-fated flight, and offers its prayers to the families and loved ones of the victims as they continue to suffer this insurmountable loss,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in a statement on Friday.

“The Philippines remains deeply saddened by this regrettable incident and is hopeful that the victims of this tragedy be accorded the justice they rightfully deserve,” he added.

On July 17, 2014, the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 took off from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur but never landed at its destination after it was shot down over the eastern region of Ukraine.

A total of 298 people, including a Filipino woman and her two children, perished in the tragic incident.

A Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) earlier reported that the flight was shot down by a Buk-missile launched from an agricultural field near the town of Pervomaiskyi, to the south of the town of Snizhne in Ukraine.

Four men were charged with “intentionally causing an aircraft to crash,” resulting in the death of 298 people.