CEBU, Philippines — An official of the Party of European Socialists (PES) invited by Akbayan Partylist as one of its foreign guests was reportedly barred by immigration officials in Cebu to enter the country.
Akbayan’s Justine Balane claimed that Giacomo Filibeck, deputy secretary-general of the PES, was held and immediately deported by immigration officials upon his arrival at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport yesterday.
Filibeck was one of the 20 foreign guests invited to join in today’s Akbayan Partylist Congress in Cebu City. PES is a sister party of Akbayan.
In a statement sent to The Freeman, Balane said that immigration officials handed a slip to Filibeck upon his arrival showing that he is required to fulfill the "Black List Order (BLO) Lifting" before he can enter the Philippines.
Balane said Filibeck was singled out because the other foreign guests were allowed to enter the country.
"He was blacklisted by the Philippine government as he was part of the international solidarity mission in October 2017 where they denounced the killings," Balane said.
Akbayan condemned, in the strongest terms, the detention and deportation of the human rights leader.
“The ridiculous charge of 'illegal political activities' is (President Rodrigo) Duterte's way of saying he wants to criminalize criticisms,” Akbayan said in a statement. (FREEMAN)