Duterte to del Rosario: You have no business using govt-issued diplomatic passport
Credit to Author: RALPH VILLANUEVA| Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2019 16:23:20 +0000
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday chided former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario for using his government-issued diplomatic passport to attend a private business meeting in Hong Kong, where he was barred entry.
Del Rosario was scheduled to attend a board and shareholders meeting of Hong Kong-listed First Pacific on June 21, but immigration officials held him at the airport and later ordered his deportation.
In a speech during the 122nd founding anniversary of the Presidential Security Group in Malacanang, Duterte said del Rosario “had no business” using his diplomatic passport.
“You are no longer an employee of government. You have no business using government diplomatic passport,” he said.
Last Friday, del Rosario tried to enter Hong Kong, but was stopped from entering the Chinese territory over “immigration concerns.”
Del Rosario and then Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales filed a case against Chinese President Xi Jinping for alleged crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
They were also instrumental in the Philippines’ victory against China at The Hague in Netherlands where the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in the country’s favor over the use of marine resources in the disputed sea.
After the incident, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. cancelled all diplomatic passports given to former government officials.
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