Former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — The four-hour ordeal of former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales at the Hong Kong International Airport last May 21 is “an act of strong-arming by China in its slow and creeping invasion of Philippine sovereign maritime zones.”
This was asserted Tuesday by UP Law Alumni Foundation Inc. (UPLAF) and UP Law Alumni Association (UPLAA) as both condemned the action of Hong Kong immigration officers, who held Morales at the airport as they denied her entry to Hong Kong for being a “security threat.”
READ: Ex-Ombudsman Morales denied entry to HK for being ‘security threat’
“The recent incident involving no less than a former Ombudsman and Justice of the Supreme Court is a cause for grave alarm for our Nation and every Filipino,” they said in a statement.
The groups called for vigilance and patriotism and urged the government “to be more proactive in defending the rights of our Sovereign Nation and every Filipino from unwarranted intrusions.”
Morales went to Hong Kong for a vacation with her family. She was supposed to fulfill a promise to her grandchildren, but opted to return to Manila instead after the airport Hong Kong airport incident.
Morales said she could not think of any reason for such surprise restriction in Hong Kong except the complaint – technically a communication – that she and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario filed against Chinese President Xi Jinping before the International Criminal Court.
READ: Del Rosario, Morales sue China leader in ICC
In March, Morales and Del Rosario filed the case against Xi over “atrocious actions of Chinese officials in the South China Sea and within Philippine territory.”
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