A “Sorry, we’re closed” sign is posted on the glass door of the Chinese Consular Office in Cebu at the Cebu Business Park on Nov. 6 but police said embassy officials assured it would reopen soon. (CDN PHOTO/ Michelle Joy L. Padayhag)
The Chinese Consular Office in Cebu has a new acting head and is expected to resume operations soon except for the processing of visa applications.
The office was closed following the Oct. 21 shooting in Lighthouse Restaurant that left two consular officers dead and the consul general wounded.
Chief Supt. Prudencio Bañas, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said he was told by visiting Chinese officials on Friday that Qui Jian, Chinese Consul-General to the Philippines in Manila, is temporarily taking over.
The position was left vacant by Consul General Song Ronghua, who returned to China after he survived a gunshot wound in the forearm and neck.
The motive of the attack was not officially disclosed, but sources said it had to do with internal problems that provoked the husband of a consular officer in charge of the visa section to open fire at colleagues during a birthday lunch for Song, who was newly appointed to his post a month earlier.
The office will reopen but visa processing has to wait for the arrival of a new officer in charge, said Bañas.
Bañas received Chinese officials who came to thank the local police for coordinating with Chinese counterparts in the investigation to gather evidence for the trial ahead of the suspects Li Qingliang and his wife Consul Gou Jing. The couple, who enjoy diplomatic immunity, were flown back to Xiamen on Oct. 23.
When Cebu Daily News visited the Chinese consular office on Friday morning at the 5th floor of the Loreta Tower in Cebu Business Park, signs posted outside said the office was closed.
Two staffers were inside. A security guard came out and told CDN the office was still closed and that they were waiting for instructions from Manila when to resume operations.