PH urged to convict embassy execs in sex scandal to boost trafficking status

 News
Jun 202013
 
PH urged to convict embassy execs in sex scandal to boost trafficking status

By Karen BoncocanINQUIRER.net 12:50 pm | Friday, June 21st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines — In order to improve its status in the United States’ annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, the Philippines needs to convict embassy officials who will be found guilty of currying sexual favors from distressed female overseas Filipino workers in exchange for their repatriation, a lawmaker at the House of Representatives said Friday. Akbayan Partylist Representative Walden Bello felt that the Philippines was not doing enough to curb the incidence of human trafficking and said that one way of sending a message about the country’s resolve would be to “dismiss officials engaged in sex trafficking”. The US’ TIP Report showed that the Philippines retained its Tier 2 status and noted that there was a “paucity of arrests and convictions”. “We need to clean up our agencies,” Bello, who heads the committee on overseas workers affairs at the House of Representatives, told INQUIRER.net. The partylist lawmaker has accused three Philippine Embassy officials of involvement in sexual exploitation in the Middle East, prompting an investigation by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The legislator warned that he would resign from the House should the government fail to hold accountable Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) in Amman, Jordan assistant labor attaché Mario Antonio, Kuwait Polo officer Blas Marquez and a certain “Kim” in Damascus. Antonio in a press conference Thursday denied the allegation. Related stories:PH failed to restrain human trafficking–USSolon slams gov’t for Read More …

US opposes bullying by China in disputed seas

 News
Jun 202013
 
US opposes bullying by China in disputed seas

Associated Press 9:37 am | Friday, June 21st, 2013 In this May 7, 2013 photo, a Filipino fisherman places ice on containers for fish before they are delivered to the market in the coastal town of Infanta, Pangasinan province, northwestern Philippines. Since China took control of the Scarborough Shoal last year, which Beijing calls Huangyan Island, Filipino fishermen say Chinese maritime surveillance ships have shooed them from the disputed waters in the South China Sea and roped off the entrance to the vast lagoon that had been their fishing paradise for decades. Now, they say, they can’t even count on the Chinese to give them shelter there from a potentially deadly storm. AP WASHINGTON— The nominee to become the top U.S. diplomat in East Asia delivered pointed comments about China in his confirmation hearing Thursday, saying there’s no place for “coercion and bullying” in the region’s seas. Danny Russel told a Senate panel that he will do everything in his power to “lower the temperature” in territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas and push claimants including China toward diplomacy. He also said it was “unacceptable” for China to demand only bilateral negotiations with the other claimants, and voiced strong U.S. support for efforts by Southeast Asia to negotiate as a bloc and frame a “code of conduct” to manage the disputes — an issue to be taken up at regional security talks in Brunei later this month. Russel is currently White House senior director for Asian affairs. Read More …

‘Pablo’ victims still need help–UN

 News
Jun 202013
 
‘Pablo’ victims still need help–UN

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:36 am | Friday, June 21st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—A United Nations humanitarian agency has called for urgent help from the international community for the Mindanao provinces devastated by Typhoon “Pablo” and decades of conflict, saying the region still needed some $47 million (around P2 billion) for shelter and livelihood requirements this year. Top officials of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Unocha) also said it was downsizing its presence on the ground in the typhoon-devastated parts of Mindanao as operations had shifted from immediate relief to long-term rehabilitation. David Carden, the head of Unocha Philippines, said the $47 million, part of the $91 million call for aid that the agency made under its revised humanitarian action plan for central and western Mindanao, had remained unfilled as of this month. “This revised plan will help us to meet the ongoing needs of those affected by Pablo, particularly in the areas of shelter, because people need shelter and livelihood,” Carden told a press conference on Thursday. “The requirements are still there in the areas of shelter, education, sociopsychological rehabilitation. A lot of people who lost relatives, friends, they are recovering now and I’d say we don’t have much time… We have to move rather quickly,” said Rashid Khalikov, the Geneva-based Unocha director who headed a high-level team of aid officials and international donors who visited Maguindanao this week. Carden said the revised call for aid aimed to “meet the humanitarian and protection needs of Read More …

PH failed to restrain human trafficking–US

 News
Jun 202013
 
PH failed to restrain human trafficking–US

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:29 am | Friday, June 21st, 2013 US Secretary of State John Kerry. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines retained its Tier 2 status in the United States’ annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report as US authorities noted a “paucity of arrests and convictions” despite the country’s strong resolve to arrest trafficking incidents. In a report released in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, the US Department of State said the Philippines had failed to comply with standards for curbing trafficking, particularly with the country’s poor judicial system. “As both a source country and, to a lesser extent, a destination and transit country for sex trafficking and forced labor, the Philippines remained at Tier 2 on the state department’s three-tier ranking system. Despite making significant efforts to combat trafficking, the government of the Philippines does not yet fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” the TIP report said. The report, released by Secretary of State John Kerry on June 19, is considered “the most comprehensive report” on efforts of the world’s governments to stop human trafficking. The Philippines was first upgraded to Tier 2 in June 2011, considered an improvement after the country’s initial convictions of individuals involved in human trafficking. It had been at risk of being downgraded to Tier 3, which would have led to sanctions on US aid to the Philippines. In retaining the country at its current rating, the state department noted the Philippines’ “weaknesses in its judicial system,” Read More …

US prof held for sex with Filipino kids

 News
Jun 202013
 
US prof held for sex with Filipino kids

Associated Press 4:35 am | Friday, June 21st, 2013 This 2011 image provided by the FBI shows Walter Lee Williams, 64, one of the U.S. FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives has been arrested in the resort city of Playa del Carmen, Mexico, Tuesday June 18, 2013. Prosecutor Gaspar Armando Garcia Torres says Williams is wanted on charges of sexual exploitation of children and traveling abroad for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with children. AP LOS ANGELES—A former professor of the University of Southern California (USC) accused of sex crimes involving two children in the Philippines has been deported to the United States after a Mexican citizen recognized his picture in a newspaper and informed the US Embassy. Walter Lee Williams, 64, will appear in a Los Angeles federal courtroom on Thursday to face charges of sexual exploitation of children and traveling abroad for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with children. He had been placed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. The indictment alleges Williams traveled from Los Angeles to the Philippines to engage in sex acts with two 14-year-old boys he met online in 2010, the Department of Justice said in a statement. “He allegedly engaged in sexual activity via Internet webcam sessions with these boys and expressed a desire to visit them in the Philippines to have sex,” the indictment stated. A tip from a Mexican citizen who saw a photograph in a local newspaper and contacted the US Read More …

DFA creates body to probe sexual exploitation in PH foreign missions

 News
Jun 202013
 
DFA creates body to probe sexual exploitation in PH foreign missions

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 7:07 pm | Thursday, June 20th, 2013 Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA—The Department of Foreign Affairs  set up Thursday a fact-finding body to investigate alleged sexual exploitation of distressed Filipino workers in at least  three Philippine diplomatic posts in the Middle East as it asked eight more of the country’s ambassadors in the region to come home “for consultations.” Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario ordered the ambassadors home to discuss the alleged cases and draw up measures to prevent such offenses from occurring in Philippine foreign missions. The Philippine envoys to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Lebanon were summoned a day after Del Rosario called on the ambassadors to Jordan, Syria and Kuwait and officials linked to the alleged prostitution rings to take the next flight home to give their side of the issue. “To be as thorough as possible in addressing the issue on the alleged sex-related offenses, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has instructed the ambassadors of 11 of our embassies in the Middle East (including the three earlier called home) to come home immediately for consultations and to discuss related issues,” Hernandez said at a news briefing. “We need to have our ambassadors participate in the fact-finding initiatives that the DFA has started, We need to find ways to collectively encourage victims and witnesses to come forward and submit formal complaints and testimonies,” he added. Hernandez said the envoys in the Read More …

UN sends out call for $47-M aid for Mindanao rehab in 2013

 News
Jun 202013
 
UN sends out call for $47-M aid for Mindanao rehab in 2013

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:42 pm | Thursday, June 20th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations’ humanitarian agency called for immediate international response to the prevailing needs in Mindanao provinces devastated by Typhoon “Pablo” and decades of conflict, estimating that the region would have to raise $47 million (roughly P2 billion) for shelter and livelihood needs in 2013 alone. Top officials of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) also bared on Thursday that it has started downsizing its operations on the ground in typhoon-hit parts of Mindanao as operations shifted from immediate relief to long-term rehabilitation. The $47 million is part of a $91-million call for aid under the agency’s revised humanitarian action plan for Central and Western Mindanao as of this month, according to David Carden, head of OCHA Philippines. “This revised plan will help us to meet the ongoing needs of those affected by Pablo, particularly in the areas of shelter, because people need shelter and livelihood,” Carden said in a press conference on Thursday. “The requirements are still there in the areas of shelter, education, socio-psychological rehabilitation. A lot of people who lost relatives, friends, they are recovering now and I’d say we don’t have much time… We have to move rather quickly,” Rashid Khalikov, Geneva-based UNOCHA director who led a high-level visit of aid officials and international donors to Maguindanao this week. Carden said the revised call for aid aimed to “meet the humanitarian and protection needs of 530,000 affected Read More …

Rep. Bello: I have evidence of embassy sex racket

 News
Jun 202013
 
Rep. Bello: I have evidence of embassy sex racket

By Christian V. EsguerraPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:35 pm | Thursday, June 20th, 2013 Representative Walden Bello MANILA, Philippines—Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello threatened on Thursday to reveal more damaging evidence against overseas welfare officer Mario Antonio if he would insist on his “brazen lie” that illegal recruiters had made up the “sex-for-flight” scandal. “We don’t want to preempt the investigation, but if he continues with his brazen lies, we’re going to make more of his misdeeds public,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone following a meeting with Assistant Labor Secretary Rebecca Chato at the House of Representatives. Bello also called for a parallel investigation independent of the one promised by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Labor and Employment. He said his informants from both agencies were more willing to talk in a Malacañang-initiated inquiry. “They’ll feel safer and more confident in an independent investigation initiated by the Palace,” he said. In the meeting with Chato, Bello said, he asked that DOLE expand its investigation to cover Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Bello earlier alleged that female overseas Filipino workers were being sexually exploited by some Philippine labor officers in Kuwait, Damascus in Syria, and Amman in Jordan. Antonio denied the allegation, saying it might have been floated by illegal recruiters who wanted him out. The response incensed Bello, who said his information had come from “mid- to high-level” officers of both the DFA and DOLE. “What he is saying, that’s a brazen lie,” he said. Also tagged Read More …

Philippines, US to hold naval exercises near disputed reef

 News
Jun 202013
 
Philippines, US to hold naval exercises near disputed reef

Agance France-Presse 3:11 pm | Thursday, June 20th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines – The United States and the Philippines are to hold joint naval maneuvers in the South China Sea next week between the main island of Luzon and a reef claimed by both China and Manila, the Filipino navy said Thursday. The exercises taking place from June 27 to July 2 by the two allies are to be held about 108 kilometers (67 miles) east of Scarborough Shoal, navy spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Gregory Fabic told AFP. Chinese government vessels are still believed to be patrolling the waters around the shoal after a lengthy stand-off last year with the Philippines, which ended with a Filipino retreat. “This was planned way back in 2010. Whatever happened since then was purely coincidental,” Fabic said when asked if holding the exercises there this year were a way for the Philippines to reassert its sovereignty over the shoal. The maneuvers would be held over 12,347 square kilometers (4,767 square miles) of waters, he added. Chinese embassy spokesmen in Manila could not be reached for comment Thursday. Beijing claims it has sovereign rights over nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters far away from its main landmass and approaching the coasts of Southeast Asian countries. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the sea, and the area has for decades been regarded as a potential trigger for major military conflict in the region. Since last month the Philippine navy has also Read More …

Thought comes to the archbishop

 News
Jun 202013
 
Thought comes to the archbishop

Outtakes By Rene Ciria-Cruz 2:11 pm | Thursday, June 20th, 2013 Can a brother marry his sister? “Yes,” according to retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz, as long as he’s gay and she’s a lesbian. “Hold it, hold it right there! That’s not what the good archbishop said!” As you can see, I’m being rudely interrupted, by no less than Dr. Teologio Macadios of the Pandacan Theological Seminary. “Archbishop Cruz said ‘yes,’ gays can marry, so long as it’s with the opposite sex. It’s okay for a gay man to marry a lesbian woman—because the anatomy to consummate a union for procreation is there.” I stand corrected. Apologies all around. That’s indeed what the archbishop–the judicial vicar of the august Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines–may have declared at the National Appellate Matrimonial Tribunal last week. He even confessed, “I ask this question to myself and I have thought about it for a long time, and the answer is ‘yes.’” Still, it’s good to know that a brother can now marry his sister, so long as they’re both homosexuals and belong to different religious orders. “Wait! Hold it there again! Priests can’t marry nuns, stupid!” Even if they’re gays and have the anatomies for conception? “Yes, because of their vows of celibacy, you idiot.” I apologize for being thoroughly confused. But one other thing. If the Church says it’s okay for gay men to marry gay women, then isn’t it easier for them to split up later compared with, say, heterosexual couples. Read More …

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