Travel to Hong Kong still safe – Locsin


BY BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO
OCTOBER 07, 2019
IT is still safe to travel to Hong Kong despite the continuing protests there, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.
He gave the assurances as some Filipinos voiced fears on visiting the former British colony.
“The demonstrations are scheduled and the locations are published ahead,” Locsin said on Twitter.
According to reports received and gathered by the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong, protests will be held on October 9 at a venue yet to be announced, October 10 at Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station, October 12 at the New Town Plaza Shatin, October 13 at Victoria Park and Edinburgh Place, October 14 at Edinburgh Place and Charter Garden, October 16 in time for the resumption of the Legislative Council, October 20 at Riverpark Tai Wai to Shatin, October 21 at the Yuen Long Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Station, October 26 at Tamar Park Admiralty, and October 31 at Prince Edwin MTR Station.
“We expect demonstrations to continue throughout the month,” the consulate said in its advisory over the weekend.
“We urge all our kababayan (countrymen) to not join the demonstrations, stay away from the locations where demonstrations are taking place, and avoid wearing black- or white-colored upper garments,” it added.
Protesters again took to the streets on Sunday to defy a ban on face masks.
Large crowds marched through torrential rain in unsanctioned rallies on both sides of Victoria Harbor Sunday afternoon.
Clashes erupted as police fired tear gas at protesters blocking roads and building barricades in at least three different locations.
Protesters have staged unsanctioned flash mob rallies across the strife-torn city in recent days — some vandalizing subway stations and shops — after Hong Kong’s leader outlawed face coverings at protests, invoking colonial-era emergency powers not used for half a century.

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