By Edu Punay
The Philippine Star
The Philippine Star
MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is investigating three other cases involving Philippine embassy officials in the Middle East who allegedly sexually abused overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Justice Secretary Leila de Lima revealed yesterday.
In an interview, De Lima confirmed that the NBI is looking into the case of an OFW who allegedly committed suicide after falling prey to the “sex-for-flight” scheme.
“It’s a supposed incident of suicide. But there are indications that this may not be a case of suicide,” she said, hinting of foul play.
De Lima refused to identify the OFW. But she said the victim was scheduled for repatriation when the incident occurred.
She said the supposed suicide happened in a halfway house, where most sex-for-flight cases took place.
De Lima said the NBI is also looking into cases of two other OFWs, one of them allegedly raped by an embassy official.
She said the cases of these three OFWs are different from the cases being investigated by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
De Lima said the NBI’s action was sought by Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello, who had exposed earlier cases of victims of sex-for-repatriation at Philippine embassies in Saudi Arabia, Syria and Kuwait.
She said the agency had submitted its report to the House committee on overseas workers’ affairs, which Bello chairs.
De Lima said the scope of the NBI probe may cover not only sexual abuse cases but also charges of human trafficking.
It is for this reason, she stressed, that the NBI and the Inter-Agency Committee Against Trafficking (IACAT) need to step in. Like the NBI, the IACAT is supervised by the DOJ.
De Lima stressed the DOJ’s mandate to file cases concerning crimes that have been committed in Philippine territory, including “extension of the territory” in Philippine embassies and consulates abroad.
“My impression based on specific incidents mentioned by Rep. Bello is that this scheme seems to have a wider scope. But some of the victims are hesitant to come out in the open to tell their stories,” she said.
Palace may tap NBI help
Meanwhile, President Aquino disclosed yesterday that the NBI may be tapped to help in the investigation to stop the sex-for-flight scheme victimizing OFWs in the Middle East.
Aquino made the statement when asked if a special body was needed to go after labor officials involved in the sex scandal.
The President was set to meet yesterday with Baldoz to discuss details of the ongoing investigation involving DOLE officials in the Middle East.
Aquino had ordered the DFA and DOLE personnel abroad to look after the welfare of some 10 million OFWs abroad.
Probe gets wider
Meanwhile, the investigation into the sex-for-flight scheme has gone beyond the labor offices and government-run halfway centers in the Middle East.
Baldoz yesterday said the DOLE investigating team would also look into the alleged involvement of some Filipino community leaders in the sex scandal.
She said the three OFWs who came out last week named several Filipino community leaders who are allegedly involved in sex-for-flight scheme.
“They mentioned several names of Filipino community leaders so we are including that in our investigation,” Baldoz said.
Earlier, Baldoz reported that Riyadh labor attaché Adam Musa has been ordered to appear before the investigating panel to explain the allegations of three OFWs.
Musa need not be recalled since the investigating team is already in the Middle East, she said.
The complainants claimed that distressed Filipino workers who are seeking repatriation are being asked to do sexual favors in exchange for plane tickets.
Baldoz had ordered the DOLE investigating team to probe the alleged sex scandal involving labor officers in Dammam and Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
“The team was ordered to investigate all officers and personnel in Kuwait, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, specifically in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Al-Khobar which Rep. Bello mentioned in his interview with the media last Saturday,” said Baldoz.
The DOLE team is expected to wrap up their investigation and submit necessary recommendations by the end of the month.
Female diplomats to ME
The Philippines will deploy female labor officers to the Middle East amid an inquiry into allegations some of its diplomats in these posts forced distressed Filipina workers there into prostitution.
A total of 14 labor officers, 13 of them women, will be sent soon to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, and also Malaysia, to work with current staff at Philippine embassies there, DOLE spokesman Nicon Fameronag said yesterday.
Baldoz signed the deployment order for the labor officials, including labor attaché Linda Herrera to Jordan replacing Mario Antonio, who was accused of being involved in the sex scandal.
They will help Philippine workers who had sought refuge at embassy shelters to escape abuses by their employers, he said.
“The decision to send women is because there are more women overseas workers who are going to the shelters than men. The shelters are for women, not men,” he added. “The women officials will be able to relate more to women than men.”
The planned deployments were announced amid an investigation by the foreign department over allegations that at least two diplomats were forcing Filipino women at the shelters to submit to sex, either with them or other men.
The allegations have triggered a firestorm in the Philippines, which relies heavily on the salary remittances of nearly 10 million citizens – about a tenth of the population – who work abroad.
Fameronag denied that the deployment of the women labor officers was a reaction to the scandal, insisting it was part of official efforts to improve embassy services for overseas workers.
Since the allegations broke, the Philippines has recalled home a male labor attaché from the Middle East to answer the allegations against him, he said.
However, Fameronag said government investigators have yet to confirm any of the claims.
Lawmaker condemns sex-for-flight scheme
Meanwhile, Diwa party-list Rep. Emmeline Aglipay yesterday condemned the alleged exploitation of distressed Filipina workers by officials in Philippine embassies in Middle East countries in exchange for their repatriation.
Aglipay is a member of the House committee on overseas workers’ affairs and one of the representatives of a fact-finding mission sent to Saudi Arabia during the 15th Congress to look into the conditions of OFWs, particularly non-skilled women.
“To sexually exploit the people you are supposed to protect and to prey on their distress is an abhorrent and inhuman act that must be severely punished,” she said.
“But apart from ensuring that the perpetrators are penalized, we should examine how the system in the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices could be changed so that these acts would not be given the chance to happen,” she added.
The lawmaker welcomed the separate probes being conducted by the DFA and DOLE on the sex-for-repatriation racket at Philippine embassies in Syria, Kuwait and Jordan where the Filipino women are allegedly being “sold” for at least $1,000 per night.
“This issue highlights the need to enact new measures that would correct the flaws in the system of repatriation of distressed OFWs,” Aglipay said.
She said House Bill 03193 filed during the 15th Congress has been referred to the House committee on overseas workers’ affairs to help address concerns of OFWs. – With Aurea Calica, Mayen Jaymalin
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