Hong Kong keeps travel ban on Philippines

HONG Kong has turned down the Philippine government’s repeated appeals to lift the Special Administrative Region’s nearly one-year-old ban on travel to Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

The foreign office had “made representations with Hong Kong several times to have the travel ban lifted,” said Raul Hernandez, DFA spokesperson.

“The Department of Tourism (DOT) is also working to do this,” he told reporters.  Hernandez said both the DFA and DOT had not given up though. “We will continue with our representations and hope that a positive outcome will result from them.”

On Aug. 23, 2010, Hong Kong’s Security Bureau raised to black its Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for the Philippines after eight Hong Kong tourists were killed and seven wounded in a bus hijacking perpetrated by a dismissed Filipino police officer. (DFA)

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