Aquino heckler from HK barred
A Hong Kong journalist who was among those who “heckled” President Aquino during a previous summit to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in Indonesia two years ago was barred from covering the summit in Manila last week, immigration officials revealed Wednesday.
The Hong Kong journalist, identified as Lui Tsz Kin, arrived on a Cebu Pacific flight from Hong Kong on Nov. 16 for the purpose of covering the Apec summit in Manila on the 18th and 19th. However, his name appeared on an airport blacklist for being one of nine Hong Kong journalists who shouted at President Aquino in an ambush interview at the 2013 Apec summit in Bali. He returned to Hong Kong a day after he arrived.
Immigration agents, who asked not to be identified for lack of authority to officially speak on the matter, said the blacklist was issued on Nov. 20, 2014 by the Bureau of Immigration on the recommendation of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency. The nine Hong Kong journalists were listed as “undesirables” for their behavior in the previous summit and were to be prevented from entering the country to cover the 2015 Apec summit.
The alleged “heckling” incident happened on Oct. 6, 2013, at the Bali International Convention Center as President Aquino walked past a group of reporters from Now TV, Radio-TV Hong Kong and Commercial Radio, all Hong Kong-based media outfits.
The Hong Kong journalists started shouting questions in a rude manner at Mr. Aquino pertaining to the Aug. 23, 2010, Quirino Grandstand hostage crisis which left eight of their compatriots dead.
Indonesian organizers of the 21st Apec summit in Bali immediately sanctioned the nine journalists for “screaming” at a visitor, and revoked their credentials, barring them from further covering the Apec economic leaders’ meetings.
In another incident related to strict immigration controls during the Apec summit, an Afghan national was held for a week and questioned regarding his views on Islamic extremism.
The 29-year-old Afghan national, who claimed to be an employee of Afghanistan’s agriculture ministry, was confined to his hotel in Makati for a week.
The man arrived in the country on Nov. 15 supposedly to attend an agricultural forum in Laguna but was flagged after he told airport investigators he was scheduled to meet with the organizers of the forum on the 18th at the Mall of Asia, the venue for the Apec state dinner. Immigration officials searched his Facebook page and noted that he had participated in discussions on the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, raising their suspicions further.
It turned out there really was an agricultural forum scheduled. The Afghan national, who was not on the original list of participants submitted by the organizers, was said to be a last minute addition, immigration agents said.
Caught in the security web, the Afghan national agreed to “voluntary deportation” and boarded a flight to Doha on Tuesday afternoon.
