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| Ex DFA Sec. Albert Del Rosario photo from google (ctto) |
Manila, Philippines – Former Department of Foreign Affairs
(DFA) Secretary Albert Del Rosario, was held for questioning upon arrival at
the Hong Kong International Airport by Hong Kong immigration staff at 7:40a.m.
this morning, June 21.
Del Rosario who also filed a case with co-complainant,
former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, against Chinese President Xi Jinping
last March, for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court
(ICC).
‘Still here. Been half hour
wait…now in a staff lounge after answering a few questions. Asked to wait,’’ Del Rosario told the Inquirer this
morning.
He
said he was directed to a small room for questioning by Hong Kong immigration
staff. And they asked the details of his travel.
The
former DFA chief will be attending the board and shareholders meeting of
investment management and holding firm First Pacific Company Limited in Hong
Kong alongside with him are two members of the Philippine consulate inside the
airport lounge where he was being questioned.
This
was also what happened last May 21 to former Ombudsman Chief Morales, where she
was also refused entry to Hong Kong for being a “security threat.”
Morales
and Del Rosario were co-complainant in the ICC case filed against Chinese
President Xi and other Chinese officials for depriving Filipino fishermen of
their livelihood, aggression, environmental degradation, and other crimes
against humanity in the West Philippine Sea.
Morales
said she was held for questioning because she filed a complaint against China
and this was clearly as retaliation for their actions against Xi.
The
incident with Del Rosario comes two weeks after a Chinese fishing boat rammed a
Filipino fishing vessel in the Recto Bank, leaving 22 fishermen floating in the
sea for six hours before they were rescued by a Vietnamese fishing boat.
Philippine
officials first condemned the incident, together with Foreign Secretary Teddy
Locsin Jr. by filing a diplomatic protest. But later on, toned down with
President Duterte’s expression that it was just a “little maritime incident.”
Del
Rosario issued this statement before leaving Manila this morning, regarding the issue on China’s call for a joint investigation of the Recto Bank incident:
‘’The plan for a joint probe by
the Ph and China is the worst news yet. It redounds to a potential partnership
between one party (Ph who is out to seek the truth) against another party
(China, the bully) who is out to suppress it. We should really feel sorry for
our poor fishermen as the ultimate product of a joint probe with Beijing is
expected to be no more than a bowl of fruit salad.”
“Can we please not insult the intelligence
of our people?”
Source: Inquirer
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