MANILA - The Hong Kong government has suspended the visa-free access of Philippine government officials and diplomats effective February 5 as a sanction for the 2010 Manila hostage crisis. But Filipino travelers holding regular passports will not be affected. Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung said the sanctions were imposed because of Manila's refusal to apologize for the incident. He said this is only the first phase of sanctions. In 2010, a disgruntled former policeman took over a tourist bus and a bungled rescue operation left eight Hong Kong tourists dead. "With the effort of both sides in the past few months, the Philippines side has addressed three of the demands positively. Substantive progress has also been made including turning over a token of solidarity to one of the victims. However, the Philippines side is still unable to meet the demand of the victims and the families for a formal apology. Despite many rounds of discussion, there remains a substantive difference between us on this most important demand," Leung said. The Department of Foreign Affairs said it will issue a statement on this matter within the day. ANC,