Philippines lifts ban on HK journos who 'heckled' Aquino

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday lifted the blacklist order issued against nine Hong Kong journalists who "heckled" President Benigno Aquino III in a regional summit last year.

The BI said the blacklist order was lifted upon the recommendation of the of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), which requested for the ban last June.

"Upon evaluation of the NICA letter dated November 21, 2014 and received by the BI yesterday (November 24), the BI has deemed it proper to lift the blacklist order against the foreign nationals," said lawyer Elaine Tan, BI spokesperson.

"Following normal protocol, the BI heavily relied on the advice of the NICA to lift the blacklist as NICA is presumed to be in a better position to know the facts surrounding the initial finding of undesirability and subsequent reversal of such finding", Tan explained further.

With the blacklist lifted, the nine journalists may now enter the Philippines as tourists, subject to regular immigration inspection.

The NICA wants the blacklist order lifted since no incident transpired during Aquino's visit to China for the 26th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

In last year's APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia, the foreign journalists questioned Aquino about the Manila hostage crisis in 2010 that killed eight Hong Kong tourists.

Aquino was about to meet APEC business leaders when the reporters shouted questions and demanded to know whether he would meet with Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying in Bali and apologize for the hostage tragedy.

Malacañang had said that the reporters "crossed the line" after Aquino was "accosted very rudely and very aggressively."

Last week, the Hong Kong media reported that one of the blacklisted journalists was denied entry to the Philippines.

He received a letter from immigration officers stating that the nine Hong Kong journalists had been considered "undesirable" and barred from entering the country to cover next year's APEC summit in Manila.