Ex-DFA chief Del Rosario returns to PH after being denied entry to Hong Kong

“I think, clearly, the bottom line is I was being harassed or we were being harassed and I think the reason might be, if you follow the trend, the honorable Ombudswoman (Conchita Carpio-Morales) who’s here, she went through the same experience,” the former Foreign Affairs Secretary said. (File Photo by Glenn Fawcett/United States Department of Defense via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Former top diplomat Albert del Rosario returned to his home country on Friday, June 21, after Hong Kong authorities denied him entry to their territory.

Del Rosario arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 4 p.m. after he was held at the Hong Kong International Airport by immigration authorities upon his arrival there on Friday, even though he was carrying a diplomatic passport.

“I think, clearly, the bottom line is I was being harassed or we were being harassed and I think the reason might be, if you follow the trend, the honorable Ombudswoman (Conchita Carpio-Morales) who’s here, she went through the same experience,” the former Foreign Affairs Secretary said.

“And the link to that experience which turned out to be consequential to us was the communique that we sent to ICC (International Criminal Court),” he added.

On May 21, Morales was also refused entry to Hong Kong for supposedly being a “security threat.”

It can be recalled that the two former top officials filed a communication against Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials before the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity.

Asked what will be his next move following the incident, Del Rosario said he would consult first with Morales.

“I’ve also received the suggestion from the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) that we should look into the possibility of protesting the failure of the Hong Kong authorities to respect the diplomatic passport and this would be a violation of Vienna Convention,” he said, referring to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr., who is in Bangkok with President Rodrigo Duterte to attend the ASEAN Summit, said in a tweet that the DFA is working on the matter.

“And we are doing it. Not me, I am in Bangkok but I didn’t bring the entire DFA with me,” he wrote.

“He’s a Filipino in case we all forgot. I did it first time for a traveling group of business people,” he added.