(Eagle News) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte criticized former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert Del Rosario for using a diplomatic passport although he is already in private practice and went to Hong Kong for a personal business trip.
“Naggamit-gamit ng passport na hindi naman dapat. (He used a [diplomatic] passport inappropriately.) When you are no longer an employee of government, you have no business using a government diplomatic passport,” the President said Wednesday night, June 26.
Duterte made the remark in passing in his speech at the 122nd Presidential Security Group founding anniversary at the Malacañang Park where he explained his position why he could not ban China from fishing at Recto Bank which is part of the exclusive economic zone.
It was Del Rosario, together with former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales who filed a communication before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity against Chinese President Xi Jinping in May.
The former DFA chief was denied entry at the Hong Kong International Airport on June 21, where he was questioned for about six hours.
The 79-year old former diplomat was then supposed to attend attend a shareholders’ meeting in Hong Kong as a non-executive director of First Pacific Company Ltd., which is a Hong Kong-based investment management and holding firm. He is a major shareholder in the said firm.
Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., said that he would issue an order cancelling all courtesy diplomatic passports.
In a statement, the DFA also said that its “Office of Consular Affairs will be issuing an order shortly, cancelling all courtesy diplomatic passports.”
Although Del Rosario had a regular passport then, he used his diplomatic passport in going to Hong Kong although the trip was not related to any government or official mission.
A Philippine diplomatic passport is normally issued to high-ranking government officials in instances of official international travel.
The DFA said that Del Rosario received his diplomatic passport in December 2016 by virtue of Department Order No. 12-1993. It was “revalidated” on June 18 “as provided by Section 14 of the Philippine Passport Act of 1996 and in accordance with existing regulations, for a business trip to Hong Kong.”
“Since the issuance of the 1993 Department Order, diplomatic passports have been issued to former DFA secretaries as well as ambassadors as a matter of courtesy, not to confer them with diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention, but only to accord them the usual port courtesies at immigration points abroad,” the DFA said.
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations allows diplomatic agents and their families immunity from criminal, civil and administrative prosecution, with part of Article 31, stating: “A diplomatic agent shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving State. He shall also enjoy immunity from its civil and administrative jurisdiction.”
But if the holder of the diplomatic passport acted in relation to “any professional or commercial activity” that is considered “outside his official functions,” he is not immune from prosecution.