Controversial PHL Consul General to Vancouver back in Manila to face probe

Philippine Consul General to Vancouver Jose Ampeso has returned to Manila to face an investigation panel that will look into the allegation that he mistreated a Filipino passport applicant there earlier this month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the DFA fact-finding team would require Ampeso to explain his side before they determine if there is probable cause to file a case against him.

“The decision will have to be sent to the Secretary (of Foreign Affairs), and then if there is a probable cause then there will be a hearing of the case,” Hernandez told a press briefing.

At the same time, Hernandez said Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has instructed Philippine Ambassador to Canada Leslie Gatan to go to Vancouver to find out about the case and get the side of the complainant.

Ampeso was ordered by the DFA to return to the Home Office after a video of him allegedly berating a passport applicant circulated over popular video-sharing site YouTube last week.

The video, posted by one greatauror28, apparently the one who drew Ampeso's ire, shows the diplomat raising his voice at a passport applicant in Red Deer, Alberta during a consular outreach program.  The Filipino called Ampeso “arrogant, rude and drunk.”

Ampeso has decried the allegations, saying the 27-second video uploaded on the internet was “unfair and unjust.” — Michaela del Callar/KBK, GMA News

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