Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU) Exposure Trip : Philippines 香港大學學生會 藍帽子 周游列國 : 「尋找菲律賓的故事」

am - Free :

One goup visited the Civil Service Commission and/or Government Department in Quezon City, then went south via EDAS Ave to visit Asian Development Bank (ADB), then the nearby ShoeMart MegaMall in Mandaluyong City.

Another group visited the Spanish tourist site of Intramuros in Manila City, did some shopping.

pm - Both groups return to Titus Center and perform an Assessment of the visit: examine the problem(s) and propose action plan(s)

Before 6:00pm - arrive at the Manila Airport (Philippine Air Line (PAL) uses the new Centennial Terminal II; all others use the existing old terminal on the western side of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Our Air France uses the old terminal**). Because the 2nd group returned to Titus Center late, the whole Delegation left Titus only at 6:55pm and arrived NAIA at 7:00pm. Thanks to the staff of the Air France for escorting the Delegation all the way from the check-in counter to the plane

8:00pm - Flight AF185 takeoff. Departure Tax is Peso 550 or US$14 per head. Book LEFT-window seats to see Clark Aribase and the volcano Mt. Pinatubo.

10:30pm - arrives in HK. Members please write something for this website and for other publication.

As mentioned above, we arrived late at NAIA. Many thanks to Air France for escorting us all the way to the plane.

We also thank Air France for giving us 2 Business Class seats, at no extra cost (probably because the Economy Class was full). Here 2 photos inadvertently overlapped, with Anthony talking to French computer expert Mr Philippe THOMAS abroad Air France, while other Trip001 members (including the yellow McDonald Dog) looked on:

It is a memorable moment to end the Exposure Trip with a discussion on the French contribution to the Freedom of Association and political science :-

1. Frenchman Jean Bodin developed the concept of sovereignty in 1576 to mean the absolute and perpetual power of a republic, subject to the laws of God and nature, as well as to certain human laws common to all people (see Ruth Lapidoth (1997) Autonomy: Flexible Solutions to Ethnic Conflicts p.42).
While most of the world (including the Philippines) have respected both limbs of the concept, China has so far only taken up the first limb.

2. Baron de Montesquieu (d. 1755) proffered the theory of Separation of Powers, which was learnt and developed by the Americans as the Presidential System.

3. While the French Revolution of 1789 had ushered in the both the commune system and the declaration on human rights, Deng Xiaoping had learnt the first item but not the second.

4. The Semi-Presidential System of Charles de Gaulle's Fifth Republic (1957), with both a President and Premier, was manifested in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong i.e. Jiang and Zhu, Lee and Lian, Tung and Chan.

5. Hope that we can continue to learn and pick up the good portion of the French contributions. See you in the next Exposure Trip.

This website is the 3rd draft designed and written for the HKUSU by Anthony C.H. CHUA 蔡誌慶, PhD Student in Law, HKU, and member of Trip001, on 10 March 2000 (then 26 March 2000, 8 Mar 2001) pending formal approvals from the Trip members and from HKUSU, and pending linkage/transfer to the HKUSU website. (please see acknowledgement section in FrontPage)