Palace asks Filipinos to avoid flying to Hong Kong

August 13, 2019

Malacanang advised on Tuesday Filipinos to avoid going to Hong Kong amid protests there.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said this is not the right time to go to China's special administrative region.

"If you want to go to Hong Kong, this is not the right time to go there," he said, noting instances where flights were suddenly cancelled.

"Avoid going there. That's the advice because you're not sure if you're going to reach Hong Kong in the first place," said Panelo, also chief presidential legal counsel.

But as to the possible deployment ban of Filipino workers in Hong Kong, he echoed what Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has said that it would not be implemented yet.

"The trouble is limited at the airport," he said.

Most flights, particularly departing, in Hong Kong were cancelled Monday afternoon after thousands of protesters entered the arrival and departure areas.

Demonstrations started due to a bill allowing extradition to mainland China.

The situation deteriorated and brought more challenges since Hong Kong was handed over from Great Britain to China in 1997. Celerina Monte/DMS