DFA exec says option on 'persona non grata' status for China's envoy under review

Declaring Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian as persona non grata (PNG) is an option that should not be taken in haste and must be seriously reviewed, a Foreign Affairs executive said.

Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said while there are calls to declare the Chinese envoy to Manila as persona non grata, it must be thoroughly reviewed whether his actions merit such declaration.

"When an ambassador assumes, he is accepted by the accrediting host government. If you do something or say something that is unwelcome then you can be subject of what they call persona non grata but with this case, I think it's something that will have to be seriously  considered whether the incidents or the series of incidents merit having him be a persona non grata," Daza said in a Palace briefing on Monday, Dec. 11.

"I did not say that we're considering it, I said that it is something to be considered whether it merits to have an ambassador  be considered a PNG," Daza stressed.

The matter was brought up following the twin incidents in the West Philippine Sea over the weekend, where China's coast guard and maritime militia deployed water cannon attacks against Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels.

Daza explained that when you declare someone as persona non grata, "that is at a certain level already and they are both intended and unintended consequences and that's the reason why a serious consideration should actually be undertaken."

She also noted that the legislative body has called for this based on "observations of what is happening in the course of several months."

"It is something that has actually been floated," she said.

The Foreign Affairs official also stressed that an ambassador should enhance relations and not strain them as she called on Huang to do his best to fulfill what is expected from him in his host country.

"I would also like to add this, an ambassador is supposed to build bridges, is supposed to enhance relation and not strain relations. So we are calling that he actually assumes that he will try to do his best to actually enhance the relations between the two countries just as we expect our ambassadors posted abroad to do the same," Daza said.

In August this year, Huang was declared persona non grata by the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan after he defended the harassment of China Coast Guard (CCG) against Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea in the same month.

On Dec. 10, Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito has renewed his call for the repatriation of the Chinese ambassador, saying his recent pronouncements on the Philippine government has done nothing to ease the tension between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea.