HK Mag: Sorry for 'maid-country' remark on RP

MANILA, Philippines - Following calls from Manila for an apology, the Hong Kong based-magazine that ran a column demeaning the Philippines as a country of "slaves" has said sorry for the "politically incorrect column."

Asia City Publishing House, HK Magazine's publisher, with office at 301 Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road in Hong Kong, issued the statement three days after the controversial column came out.

"The publisher and editors of HK Magazine wish to apologize unreservedly for any offense that may have been caused by Chip Tsao’s column dated March 27," the statement read.

"HK Magazine has long championed the rights of Filipinos working in Hong Kong. We note that Filipinos have often been unfairly treated in Hong Kong, and that they make an important contribution to this community," it added.

Despite admitting that Tsao’s column was offensive, the publishing company defended that the column was satirical and could be read “in different ways."

“One aspect of satire is that it can be read in different ways. In this particular case, many people have read meanings into this column that were never actually intended."

Deputy Consul General Kira Danganan earlier demanded an apology from Tsao who had insulted more than 127,000 Filipinos working in Hong Kong as domestic helpers.

“While Mr. Tsao may have intended his column to be a piece of satire, he has miserably miscalculated in this endeavor," Danganan said in a statement on Monday. “Mr. Tsao and Asia Publishing owe the Filipino community in HK a formal apology for the grave disrespect they have shown."

Tsao wrote in his March 27 column for the HK Magazine that the Philippines has no right to lord over the disputed Spratly Islands because it is "a nation of servants" who shouldn’t “ flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter."

China has a long-standing claim over the islands which lie at the South China Sea. - with Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more