Imposing economic sanctions on the Philippines and restoring Hong Kong people's dignity (2013/11/6)

President, the Philippine hostage incident happened three years ago, and in various investigation reports published by the investigation committee in the Philippines, it was stated that a number of Philippine officials are in dereliction of duty in handling the incident. However,the Philippine Government still refused to admit responsibilities for this tragedy and it has been evasive in facing the demands for apology and compensation. In particular, the frivolous attitude of the Philippine President AQUINO III has enraged Hong Kong people. During these three years, the aspirations of the survivors and the victims' families for apology and compensation have not been heeded. Not long ago, the Philippine media wrongly reported that "LEUNG Chun-ying agreed to put behind the incident" and "the family members have accepted the compensation", in an attempt to mislead Hong Kong people, dilute the matter and divert attention from the conflicts. This has in turn further infuriated the victims' families, the survivors and Hong Kong people, and has drawn greater concern about the incident.

Since the Government issued a black travel alert for the Philippines three years ago, the business of the tourism industry has undoubtedly been affected. For the sake of righteousness, most members of the industry have reached a consensus that they will not, for the sake of doing business, ask the Government to withdraw the black travel alert or proactively organize group tours to the Philippines before the hostage incident has been resolved. However, the Philippine side still turns a blind eye. In the face of the irresponsible attitude of the Philippine side, the victims' families, the injured as well as Hong Kong people have been rather rational and restrained; but this does not mean that we can tolerate repeated procrastination by the Philippine Government.

Recently, owing to the active follow-up actions taken by the SAR Government and the Chief Executive, as well as the concern expressed by leaders of the Central People's Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, promising progress has been made. On 22 October, the Manila City Council passed a special resolution, authorizing Mayor Joseph ESTRADA to travel to Hong Kong to apologize for the hostage incident. Soon afterwards, Bernardito ANG, a Manila City Councillor, came to Hong Kong to deal with the hostage incident on behalf of the Manila Mayor, and he had constructive negotiations with Mr James TO who represented the victims' families and the injured. In the course of negotiation, Mr TO has kept the public informed of the situation and the Government has made relevant arrangements so as to avoid further complications. Thus, significant progress was made when compared with the previous negotiations. Nevertheless, Hong Kong people still find the attitude of the Philippine side unsatisfactory. Thus, the Chief Executive stated clearly on Tuesday that if the Philippine side failed to put forward an appropriate proposal within one month to respond to the demands of the victims' families, the Government would impose economic sanctions.

While I fully support the Chief Executive's clear stance, I think attention should be paid with regard to the strategies in imposing sanctions on the Philippines. On the premise of respecting the wishes of the victims' families and the injured, the Government should act in a rational and restrained manner, and should not take drastic actions hastily, so as to avoid a stalemate or even a lose-lose situation. I agree with Mr IP Kwok-him's amendment which "calls on the various sectors in the society to unite and support the SAR Government in holding negotiations with the Philippine Government on the Philippine hostage incident", and to impose sanctions only when the negotiations have no results.

Regarding the specific sanction measures, I think we can, as the first step, adopt the proposal in Mr SIN Chung-kai's amendment. On the one hand, the sanction measures proposed by Mr SIN Chung-kai can express Hong Kong people's dissatisfaction with the ways in which the Philippine Government has dealt with the incident, and such measures will cause insignificant damage to our economy; and on the other hand, it leaves some room for the next round of negotiation.

Concerning Mrs Regina IP's proposal to suspend the visa-free arrangement for Philippine visitors, I think the Government needs to consider seriously. According to the figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board, about 710 000 Philippine people visited Hong Kong last year, and the Philippines is the fifth largest source of visitors to Hong Kong. If the Government unilaterally suspends the visa-free arrangement for Philippine visitors, Philippine people will definitely be discouraged to visit Hong Kong. While travel agencies will bear the brunt, other consumer industries including restaurants, hotels, transportation, retail and scenic spots, as well as our economy will be directly affected. In addition, quite a number of Philippine travellers come to Hong Kong for business, exchange activities or visiting friends and relatives, suspending the visa-free arrangement for Philippine visitors will cause inconvenience to those who suddenly decide to come to Hong Kong for urgent matters, and the normal exchanges between people in the two places will also be affected, which is a lose-lose solution. Unless there are no other alternatives, I hope the Government will not go that far. Hence, I will vote against the amendment

As regards Mr CHAN Chi-chuen's proposal to restrict the entry of Philippine domestic helpers, the impacts are even greater. There are some 320 000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, and about 50% of them are from the Philippines. If the Government stops issuing employment visas, the everyday lives of over 100 000 households and several hundred thousand Hong Kong residents will be affected. At present, as there is a significant labour shortage in Hong Kong, it is very difficult and even impossible to identify ways to replace Philippine domestic helpers. Therefore, I will vote against this amendment.

After three years, progress has finally been made on the Philippine hostage incident. I hope that the Philippine side would fully respect the aspirations of the victims' families and the injured, and would not miss the best opportunity for negotiations at the moment. They should take the initiative to propose reasonable solutions and refrain from forcing the Government to take more stringent sanction measures.

I so submit, President.