On Aug 23, 2010 in Manila, a dismissed Filipino police officer took hostage 20 tourists from Hong Kong, as well as a Hong Kong tourist guide, and four Filipinos. The officer was killed in a gun battle, but so were eight of the hostages. Subsequent investigations revealed Philippine police officials handled the situation incorrectly.

Although both the mayor of Manila, and the perpetrator's parents apologized for the incident, Philippine president Benigno S. Aquino III refused to apologize.

On Oct 6, 2013 nine journalists representing Now TV, RTHK, and Commercial Radio attempted what is known in media circles as an "ambush interview" or unscheduled interview. The main question they posed to Aquino as he was entering a meeting of APEC business leaders in Bali, Indonesia, was whether he was going to meet Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to discuss the hostage incident. Aquino refused to respond.

The Indonesian government immediately withdrew the APEC accreditation of the journalists, leading to protests from media groups not only in Hong Kong but also in the Philippines.

In June 2014, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration issued an order banning the nine Hong Kong reporters involved in the Bali incident from entering the country.

On Nov 20, 2014, one of the blacklisted journalists, a Now TV cameraman, arrived in Manila and was refused entry into the country. Upon inquiring why this was, he was told about the blacklist. Initially, the Presidential Communications Secretary denied the existence of such a blacklist. "The specific actions attributed to the journalists in the 2013 APEC Summit", he said, "is not one of the grounds for denial of entry into the country."

On Nov 21, 2014, however, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Immigration contradicted the Office of the President and said that there was indeed a blacklist. "Following normal protocol," said the immigration spokesperson, she justified the blacklisting on the grounds of a provision allowing for "a foreign national who is proven to possess grounds for exclusion is included in the blacklist. One of the grounds, anchored on the interest of public safety, is when a foreign national shows disrespect or makes offensive utterances to symbols of Philippine authority."

There are certain implications resulting from the incident. One is that the Office of the President of the Philippines is not always informed of developments involving foreign nationals. This was exactly the situation in 2010, when the hostage situation, considered a local or municipal concern, was not brought to the attention of the national authorities until it was too late.

Another is that not everybody in the Philippine government adheres to the United Nations declaration on human rights. One of these rights addresses the free access of journalists to information within, or outside their home countries.

The third implication is that the decision to ban foreign journalists was not made by the Philippine national government. Although the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) is administratively under the Office of the President, that is only for bureaucratic purposes. In reality, NICA is on its own, similar to intelligence agencies in many other countries.

What lessons are to be learned?

First, that all government officials, whether covert operatives or bureaucrats, have to be trained in international law.

Second, the kneejerk reaction of presidential spokespersons, not only in the Philippines but elsewhere, should not be believed by journalists, precisely because these people are prone to kneejerk reactions.

Third, the media in Hong Kong, the Philippines, and elsewhere are right in protesting any ban on any journalists in any country.

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights says explicitly that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers."

Expressing an opinion is covered by this provision. Asking a question, no matter how apparently rude or disrespectful, is also covered by this provision.

Finally, the blacklisting of these journalists was not a matter of national policy. It was however, a major error by minor bureaucrats. These bureaucrats are unrepresentative of the country. It is unfair to claim that Aquino was personally responsible for the blacklisting.

On Nov 23, 2014 the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines joined the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines in condemning the blacklisting of journalists. Most Filipinos - but sadly not all - are freedom-loving.

The author is president of the Manila Times College, School of Journalism and former Philippine Under-Secretary of Education.

(HK Edition 11/25/2014 page10)