2 Hongkongers held in Philippines for months after prison terms end

The Chinese embassy in Manila has expressed concern over the cases of two Hongkongers who have remained in custody in the Philippines for months despite being discharged from prison, according to the Immigration Department.

The department confirmed on Friday night that it was handling the two cases following an appeal from a former lawmaker and a Hong Kong man who returned to the city on Tuesday after serving 26 years in a Philippine prison for drug offences.

The returned Hongkonger, Tang Lung-wai, met the two residents, surnamed Cheung and Ng, in prison. He said he had also been held for weeks at the same immigration facility in the country as the pair while he waited to be deported.

Tang said Cheung and Ng were both arrested over drug-related offences in 2000 and 2001 and had completed their jail terms.

The Philippines Bureau of Immigration issued deportation orders, seen by the South China Morning Post, to Cheung and Ng in March and June, respectively. Tang said the pair were still waiting to complete their identity confirmation process.

Tang said Cheung had his fingerprints taken for the first time after waiting for six months. Ng had his fingerprints taken six or seven times, but they had not been accepted.

Ng and Cheung both received 40-year jail sentences. Ng was supposed to have been discharged in January 2025 and Cheung in January this year. However, their transfers to immigration facilities were also delayed.

Former lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun, who had been helping Tang for years, also appealed on Facebook for an early return of both of them.

“I hope that the [Hong Kong] government and other lawmakers will continue to pay attention and help them return as soon as possible,” he said.

The Immigration Department was actively following up on two cases involving residents who had completed their sentences in the Philippines and required repatriation to Hong Kong, a spokesman said.

He said the department would provide feasible help and had been liaising on the cases with the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese embassy in the Philippines, including verifying the identities of the individuals and issuing entry permit documents for their return.

“The [Chinese] embassy in the Philippines has also expressed concern over the relevant cases and will continue to liaise with the Philippine authorities to coordinate the relevant repatriation arrangements,” he said.

The department said the Hong Kong government had always attached great importance to cases involving residents detained or imprisoned outside the city, paying close attention to their legitimate rights and interests and striving to provide them with help.

Tang was convicted of drug possession in 2011 and handed a life sentence, which in the Philippines amounts to a maximum of 40 years in prison.

A Manila court ruled in July that Tang’s sentence would be commuted in view of his good conduct and he was ordered to be released and deported immediately.

Tang waited three weeks in the immigration facilities before he was deported on Tuesday after his family appealed to the Hong Kong government for help.