Voiding of diplomatic passports tantamount to cowardice – VP spox

The cancellation of ex-government officials' diplomatic passports by the Foreign Affairs Department, after former Secretary Albert Del Rosario was barred from entering Hong Kong, was tantamount to cowardice, Vice President Leni Robredo's spokesperson said on Monday.

The vice-president's spokesperson, Ibarra Gutierrez, responding to Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro  Locsin Jr.'s gibe that Robredo was stupid for saying that the cancellation was a knee-jerk reaction to the Del Rosario incident, said, "Cancelling courtesy diplomatic passports after China refused to honor former Secretary Albert del Rosario's is not promoting professionalism but justifying cowardice."

"Besides, if Secretary Locsin really wanted to limit these passports to ‘real,working diplomats,’ he should start by cancelling his own," Gutierrez added.

Vice President Robredo said earlier that the en masse cancellation of former government officials' diplomatic passports unjustly punished the ex-officials and was tantamount to siding with China.

"Parang knee-jerk reaction. Itong reaksyon ng bansa natin, instead na ipagtanggol iyong... iyong mamamayan ng Pilipinas, parang sinisisi pa at kinansel. Kung palagay ng gobyerno hindi nararapat na holder ng diplomatic passport, dapat kinansel na noon pa," Robredo had said on Sunday.

"Eh bakit kinansel ngayon na nagkaroon na ng problema? Eh kung talagang hindi dapat iyon ginagamit ng mga dating opisyal ng DFA, dapat noong natapos iyong termino, obligasyon ng DFA na i-cancel na."

Last week, former Secretary Del Rosario flew to Hong Kong with a diplomatic passport but was kept at bay for six hours before finally being denied entry.

Del Rosario, a staunch China critic, and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales had earlier filed a complaint against Chinese President Xi Jinping before the International Criminal Court, accusing China of committing crimes against humanity in connection with China's aggression against Filipino fishermen and destroying of marine resources in the West Philippine Sea.

Before he left for Hong Kong, del Rosario also issued a statement rejecting Beijing's proposal for a joint probe on the June 9 Recto Bank ramming, in which Chinese vessel smashed into and badly damaged a Filipino fishing boat with 22 Filipinos aboard. — Llanesca T. Panti/DVM, GMA News