By Recto L. Mercene and Bernadette D. Nicolas
FORMER ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, one of two former Philippine officials who filed a lawsuit against Chinese President Xi Jinping before a United Nations body, was detained at the Hong Kong airport after being tagged by Chinese authorities as a security threat, her legal counsel said Tuesday.
Lawyer Anne Marie Corominas said Morales was at the Hong Kong Immigration arera in the airport’s Terminal 1 after she and her family flew in from Manila.
Corominas said Morales was separated from her husband, son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren who were kept in a different room near the immigration area.
“How is a 78-year-old former anti-corruption ombudswoman a ‘security threat’ in HK-China?” Corominas demanded to know.
In March, Morales and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Chinese President Xi Jinping for “crimes against humanity” due to Beijing’s activities in the West Philippine Sea.
In their 17-page complaint, del Rosario and Carpio-Morales said Xi and other Chinese officials should be held accountable for crimes against humanity over China’s activities in the South China Sea, adding that these deprived Filipino fishermen of food and livelihood, according to an earlier PNA report
China has no plans of answering the complaint, Chargé d’Affaires Tan Qingsheng of the Chinese Embassy in Manila was quoted as saying.
“I’m sure what they have done or what they will do, will not be able to represent the views of the Philippine government and people. Those actions will in no way stop the development of bilateral relations,” Tan said in an interview with the PNA.
President Duterte has since assured China that the complaint filed by Morales and del Rosario is not sanctioned by Manila.
Although The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a landmark decision in 2016 invalidating China’s “excessive” claims to the West Philippine Sea, China has opted not to recognize the arbitral ruling.
Carpio Morales was expected to return to Manila at 8:30 pm onboard Philippine Airlines flight PR- 307.
Palace to DFA: Help Carpio Morales
Malacanang said it has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to assist the former Ombudswoman. “We asked the Department of Foreign Affairs, through our Consulate General in Hong Kong, to render full assistance to the former Ombudswoman and her family for their safe and secure return to the Philippines,” said Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo in a statement on Tuesday night.
“The same government assistance shall be given to each and every Filipino in distress abroad, and this is regardless of political persuasion or affinity,” Panelo added.
However, the Palace said it will defer to the immigration laws and rules of other countries in the same way they expect foreign nations to respect their rules.
Morales was supposed to enjoy a vacation in Hong Kong with her family.