Police fire tear gas during a protest in the district of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong on August 4, 2019. – Riot police fired tear gas on August 4 at protesters on Hong Kong’s main island, the second consecutive night of unrest in a territory battered by weeks of anti-government rallies. (Photo by Isaac Lawrence / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino working as a dancer at Hong Kong Disneyland has been detained in a Hong Kong police station after he was arrested for allegedly participating in an ongoing protest there.
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“Ngayon siya po ay pansamantalang detained sa North Point Police Station para imbestigahan ang kaso,” Deputy Consul General Germinia Aguilar-Usudan of the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong said in an interview with dzMM on Monday.
The Filipino, Usudan said, requested that his identity remain private.
“Pero pwede kong sabihin na siya ay dancer sa… Hong Kong Disneyland, siya ay regular worker dito, at siya ay nakatira sa Mong Kok,” she added.
According to Usudan, the Filipino denied he was part of the protest and said that he just happened to be in the area to buy food when a chase suddenly ensued and he was arrested in the midst of it.
“Ang pagkakasabi po ng mga police, siya ay pinaghihinalaang kasama nung [mga] raliyista,” she said.
“Pero no’ng makausap namin siya (Filipino)… ang talagang pagkakasabi niya sa amin hindi siya parte ng rally. Siya po ay bumaba lamang para bumili ng pagkain. Nagkataon no’ng pagbaba niya, ‘yon nga, nagkaroon ng habulan, napatakbo din siya, nasama siya sa naaresto,” she said, explaining the side of the Filipino.
Usudan noted that pro-bono lawyers have accompanied the Filipino since he was arrested Saturday night.
The raging protests in Hong Kong started two months ago with demonstrators calling for the total withdrawal of the extradition bill that will send residents facing charges to mainland China to stand trial. Demonstrators deem the controversial measure as a curtailment of Hong Kong people’s freedoms and a violation of the “one country, two systems” scheme under which the cosmopolitan city has been ruled since it returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
Hong Kong is currently a special administrative region of China.
The protesters also demand the release of arrested demonstrators; an independent investigation into alleged police abuse; and the dissolution of the current legislature, which members are largely appointed by Beijing; among others.
READ: Protesters, police play cat-and-mouse game across Hong Kong
Hong Kong authorities have arrested more than 20 people for unlawful assembly and assault following confrontations between protesters and law enforcement authorities.
READ: Hong Kong police arrest over 20 protesters in new scuffles
Meanwhile, the Manila International Airport Authority on Monday announced the cancellation of flights to and from Hong Kong due to the ongoing conflict in the Asian financial hub.
READ: 17 flights to, from Hong Kong cancelled due to raging protests
/kga
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