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Hong Kong resident Tang Lung-wai returned to Hong Kong on Tuesday, ending a 26-year imprisonment in the Philippines on a drug charge he has long denied.
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2000 June: Arrest after breakup trip
Tang, then 29, travelled to Manila on June 19, 2000, after a breakup and stayed with Hong Kong friend Cheung Tai-on. In July, the two were arrested on the street and accused of possessing 8kg of methamphetamine. Tang said police claimed to have been monitoring him from June 1 to 12, demanded 2 million pesos for bail, and held a gun to his head to force him to sign a confession. He insisted the drugs were planted.
2002: Father's suicide
Tang's father, a police officer, suffered immense psychological pressure after the arrest and said he wished he had never had this son. In 2002, he shot himself dead at a police station. The tragedy led Tang's brother Billy to misunderstand him, and the two stopped communicating for about a decade.
2000-2011: 11 years before trial, life sentence
Tang said prison conditions were poor and he was sometimes beaten by guards. Inmates had to pay for their own expenses; those without money slept on the floor. In 2008, he attempted suicide but the rope broke. After 11 years in detention, a court tried his case in 2011. Despite doubts and a lack of qualified translation, he was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2011-2016: Family campaigns, friend dies in prison
Tang said he felt his heart had died and lived like a walking corpse. His family, realising they had wronged him, joined forces with others to seek a retrial. Friends and netizens formed a concern group and travelled to visit him. His co-defendant Cheung Tai-on died of a heart attack in prison in 2016.
2018: Immigration records emerge
Before the deadline for a final appeal, then Chief Executive Carrie Lam wrote to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2018 urging him to look into the case. With help from the Chinese Embassy, the Philippine immigration bureau issued records confirming Tang entered the Philippines on June 19, 2000, contradicting police claims.
2020 September: Final appeal rejected
The Philippine Supreme Court rejected Tang's final appeal in September 2020, upholding the original conviction.
2026 September: Freedom after a quarter-century
Under the Philippines' previous system, Tang would have been released around 2032. In 2024, a new good conduct time allowance system took effect, allowing Tang to qualify for earlier release. He was released in 2026 and returned to Hong Kong on September 29, accompanied by Immigration Department officers.
