Manila aborts another row after detaining HK officer

THE already tense relations between the Philippines and Hong Kong nearly took a turn for the worse Thursday, after airport authorities prevented a Hong Kong investigator who was leaving the country with eight shells test-fired from the guns belonging to hostage taker Rolando Mendoza, even though local police had given the investigator clearance to take the shells.

The Aviation Security Group stopped Hong Kong Police Chief Inspector Li Kwai-wah, a member of Interpol, and another Chinese policeman as they checked in for a 1 p.m. Cathay Pacific CX 900 flight back to Hong Kong.

Li was questioned when police found the eight shells in his bag, while his companion was allowed to board the flight.

Around 2:20 p.m., Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar arrived at the airport and met with Li for about 30 minutes before facing the media.

At a press briefing, Salazar said Li would be allowed to take the shells back to Hong Kong later in the day after obtaining Justice Department clearance.

Salazar added that he was sent to the airport to facilitate the clearance, even though Li already had a document from the Philippine National Police in his hand-carried case giving him the authority to take the shells.

“We issued an order that everything pertaining to the investigation should be cleared with us,” Salazar said, adding that the local Chinese embassy should have made prior arrangement.

Still, a Hong Kong lawmaker, Regina Ip, was quick to criticize the Philippine authorities for allegedly failing to facilitate the Hong Kong police investigation, the territory’s official radio-television network RTHK reported.

The incident was the latest in a series of missteps in the way the government handled a crisis triggered by Mendoza, a dismissed police officer who took a busload of Hong Kong tourists hostage and killed eight of them before he was shot dead in a botched rescue operation..

To show transparency in the ongoing investigation, the Philippines allowed Hong Kong policemen to conduct ballistic tests on Mendoza’s guns, using their own bullets. These bullets were then allowed to be brought back to Hong Kong for forensic investigation, as long as they are covered by a Justice Department clearance, Salazar said.

Salazar made it clear that the delay at the airport was procedural.

Li later left for Hong Kong on board CX-918 at 5 p.m.

Also on Thursday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the government would send a team to Hong Kong to take the testimony of two survivors of the hostage drama.

De Lima, who heads the incident investigation and review committee, said the two Hong Kong nationals have already offered to help in the investigation, and detail what had transpired inside the bus.

“The two are willing to be interviewed by investigators. There are indications that they are willing to talk to us. So we are already making the arrangements,” de Lima said.

Eric Apolonio and Rey E. Requejo, Manila Standard Today