Immigration bureau lifts ban on HK journalists

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has ordered the lifting of the blacklist order against nine Hong Kong journalists who heckled President Aquino during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali, Indonesia in 2013.

BI Commissioner Siegfred Mison said he signed the order at 10 a.m. yesterday.

“We checked the travel records of the subject individuals and we did not see any other basis not to grant the request of the lifting,” he said.

BI records show that the nine journalists had not visited the country in the last two years and they have no derogatory record.

The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) recommended the lifting of the ban because there was “no untoward incident” during the President’s visit to China for the 26th APEC summit last Nov. 10-12.

“After a re-evaluation, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency said they are no longer considered as threats and the ban was lifted effective today,” said BI spokesperson Elaine Tan.

Tan said the Hong Kong journalists could now enter the Philippines as tourists, subject to regular immigration inspection.

When asked if the BI should apologize to the journalists for the blacklisting, Mison said they were only implementing the request of another agency.

“We give weight to those who are in a better position to know who are the so-called unwanted visitors,” he added.

He said the BI based its order on a 10-year-old memorandum circular, which states that they should abide by the requests of other government agencies.

In a related development, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima denied rumors that Mison had been removed as BI chief.

“Not true,” she said when asked about the issue.

Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the BI, NICA and even the DFA could not be faulted over the blacklist order on the Hong Kong journalists.

He appealed for understanding as thousands of people enter the country each day, and that many are in the watch list because the current reality is that there are “possible security threats.”

Coloma said it was also “appropriate” that the BI lifted the blacklist order on the journalists.

He said his office would soon issue guidelines for the accreditation of journalists who would cover the APEC events to be hosted by the Philippines in 2015.

The blacklisting last week prompted criticism, with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines saying the move sent a “chilling message.”

“If the government’s intelligence agency does not like the way you ask questions, you may be labeled a public safety threat and blacklisted from the Philippines,” the group said.

The journalists were blacklisted as the Philippines and Hong Kong were repairing strained ties, and ahead of the Philippines’ hosting of the APEC summit next year.

In August 2010, eight members of a Hong Kong tour group were killed in a botched rescue. The two governments announced in April that they had resolved the row after the Manila city government issued a formal apology and the Philippine government expressed “sorrowful regret and profound sympathy.”

The Hong Kong Journalists Association said in a letter to Aquino on Monday that the journalists were just doing their job in asking Aquino for comments on the 2010 killing of eight Hong Kong tourists.

It said no behavior by the journalists “could possibly justify their classification as a security threat to your country,” and that the blacklisting was “a blemish on the reputation of the Philippines as a democratic nation.”

The Hong Kong government had also expressed concern and said it would follow up on the matter with the Philippine consulate general.– With Delon Porcalla, AFP, AP