(Eagle News)–The Palace on Friday, June 21, said former Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario may have “misused” his diplomatic passport when he went to Hong Kong.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, Del Rosario’s trip was, after all, “private in nature and is in no way related to government or foreign service.”
Del Rosario was supposed to attend a shareholders meeting of First Pacific Company Limited, but he was denied entry.
On May 21, former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, who was supposed to go on vacation with her family in Hong Kong, was also held at the airport but was subsequently allowed entry.
She opted to leave.
Both Del Rosario and Morales are complainants in a communication filed before the International Criminal Court against China’s President Xi Jinping over China’s activities in the South China Sea.
“As the country’s former chief diplomat, Mr. Del Rosario should have known or have been alerted to the proper use of diplomatic passports and other travel documents,” Panelo said.
While “any country has the authority and the right to bar entry to any foreign national to its territory,” Panelo said the Philippine government, through the consular office in Hong Kong, “continues to provide assistance to Mr. Del Rosario, like all other Filipinos who may find themselves in distress abroad.”
He said Del Rosario after all remains a Filipino citizen entitled to protection and assistance from the government despite his “penchant” to “politicize” issues.