Maniolas

By Christine O. AvendañoPhilipine Daily Inquirer 6:03 am | Saturday, June 28th, 2014 MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Justice has recommended the filing of criminal charges against a labor attaché and the driver of another labor attaché based in Saudi Arabia for their alleged involvement in the “sex-for-flight’’ scandal. The DOJ did not name the two men to be charged with “abuses against chastity and acts of lasciviousness” based on   the complaint of four female overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). It also did not identify the four women complainants. The labor attaché will be charged with two counts of abuses of chastity based on the complaint of one of the four female OFWs, a maid who sought the help of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) after she was raped by her employer. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO The DOJ said this was because the labor attaché had made an indecent proposal to the woman when the former asked if he could touch her private parts while they were on their way to the labor center on Feb. 5 last year. It also found merit in the claims of the woman that the labor attaché had made offensive telephone calls to her based on the fact that he had earlier made an indecent proposal to her and that this was in relation to her repatriation to the Philippines. The charge of abuses against chastity was recommended in the case of the labor attaché as it involves an offense where “public officer who shall solicit Read More …

CHILDREN rescued by police look out a window of the Cordova police station, as officers file a complaint against an Australian tourist who allegedly preyed on them. TONEE DESPOJO/CEBU DAILY NEWS CEBU CITY—An Australian tourist is facing child abuse cases in Cebu province after he was arrested for bringing girls to his room at a beach resort and taking lewd photos of the minors. Peter James Robinson, 51, and a mechanical engineer, was charged with qualified trafficking, a violation of Republic Act No. 7610, or  the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, and RA 9775, or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009. Aside from Robinson, police also filed charges of qualified trafficking against a 17-year-old girl who purportedly acted as the pimp. Robinson was arrested on Tuesday at a resort in Cordova town, Cebu, where he brought the victims. Police rescued 11 girls and four boys whose ages range from 8 to 15. Two other minors escaped. Policemen recovered a laptop, USB and cell phone inside Robinson’s room. Three of the minors executed affidavits claiming that they were asked to do lewd poses while Robinson took photos of them at the resort. Robinson denied the allegations, saying he didn’t bring any minor to his room. He said he had been based in Manila for two years and had been to Cebu four times for vacation. “I come to Cebu to swim, drink, eat, etc. This is the first time I’ve been arrested. I’m confused. I feel Read More …

By Bong LozadaINQUIRER.net 8:38 pm | Wednesday, June 25th, 2014 MANILA, Philippines—Strengthening its peaceful relations with each other, the Philippines and Indonesia discussed border activities of the two nations Wednesday in Davao City. Captain Alberto Caber, Eastern Mindanao Command, said the 33rd Philippines-Indonesia Vice Chairmen’s Conference was for peaceful resolutions for any tension that may arise in the borders. “The conference is another opportunity to further strengthen mutual commitment for a peaceful resolution of issues arising at the border of the two neighboring countries,” Caber said. He also downplayed any issues that the meeting touched topics about the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, saying the conference was purely between the Philippines and Indonesia. Last May 23, President Benigno Aquino III and Indonesian President Susilo Yudhoyono presided over the signing of a maritime border accord between the two countries. Lieutenant General Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, Commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command and Chairman of the Philippine Border Committee, led the Philippine side of the conference with Laksma (Commodore) Raja Morni Harahap leading the Indonesian party. During the conference the two officials agreed upon the following: a joint Philippine-Indonesian search and rescue operations on the border seas, information sharing between the Philippine Navy Naval Operations Center and Indonesian Navy Command Control Center and between the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao Operations Center and the Eastern Fleet Command of the Indonesian Navy, the expansion of activities between the two nations during humanitarian and disaster response, review the standard operating procedure on mandatory Read More …

By Tina G. SantosPhilippine Daily Inquirer 9:31 pm | Tuesday, June 24th, 2014 MANILA, Philippines—Most of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who returned to the country from strife-torn Libya have asked for job referrals from the government, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz revealed on Tuesday. Most of the OFWs were seeking assistance to be deployed to other countries, Baldoz said. On the other hand, there were at least 28 returning OFWs who sought for livelihood assistance from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment. Thirty-seven returning OFWs asked for transportation fares to be able to return to their provinces, three sought legal assistance, and two requested scholarship grants for their dependents. “There are many others, however, who were repatriated, are just waiting for the crisis to subside because they really want to go back to Libya and their employers also want them back,” noted Baldoz. Meanwhile, two batches of OFWs from Libya arrived Monday in two separate flights. Baldoz instructed OWWA  to extend assistance to the repatriates. Returnees were offered temporary shelter at the OWWA Halfway Home and were  briefed on the government’s Reintegration Program for OFWs, specifically the “Balik-Pinay, Balik-Hanapbuhay” program. Under the “Balik-Pinay, Balik-Hanapbuhay” program, the DOLE conducts skills assessment, business counseling and entrepreneurship development training to interested returning OFWs, after which, they are granted the ‘starter kits’ as a source of self-employment. RELATED STORY Alert level 3 raised for Filipinos in Libya  Follow Us Other Stories: Chinese ships ram, damage Read More …