HONGKONG tour guide Paul Au Wing-cheung has made his first court appearance in more than a year for a hearing that could signal the end of his drug-connected jail ordeal in the Philippines.
Au and Hongkong factory worker Wong Chuen-ming appeared before Pasay City Regional Trial Court Judge Lillia Lopez last week, along with several representatives of the Hongkong tourist trade.
The hearing was not made public earlier as members of the Hongkong Travel Industry Supportive Committee kept it low profile.
''I feel so happy,'' said committee chairman Mr Ronnie Yuen. ''The judge has finally allowed my circumstantial evidence to be shown.'' Mr Yuen said he had made eight trips to Manila on behalf of Au. ''I hope that the ninth time will be to bring him back to Hongkong. All of us believe he is innocent.'' Au, Wong and nine Malaysians were arrested on September 7, 1991, at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport and charged with smuggling several kilograms of the drug ''ice'' into the country.
At the time, Au was a tour guide for Select Tours International.
Tried together and represented by one lawyer, the group was found guilty more than two months later and all were sentenced to life in jail and fined $67,760.