Sex for OFW repatriation? Palace orders probe

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday ordered an investigation into the alleged sex-for-repatriation racket at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Kuwait as it urged the victims to come forward and file their complaints against the perpetrators.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is looking into the report and the head of the embassy in Kuwait has been ordered to act on the matter.

As this developed, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz threatened to file charges against labor officials and employees found guilty of committing immoral acts against overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Baldoz has created an investigating body that will seek out the truth behind the issue.

Valte said the government wants to dig deeper into the scandal and they are encouraging the victims and those with information to come forward.

She said the DFA is more than willing to act on the complaint, as she noted that she has no idea if President Aquino has been apprised on the issue.

“I am not aware if this particular report has been conveyed to the President but even without the directive, the DFA has already asked the head of the embassy to look into it,” she said.

The DFA expressed alarm over the alleged involvement of embassy personnel in the sexual exploitation of OFWs in the Middle East.

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario talked yesterday with Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello, chairman of the House committee on overseas workers’ affairs, after the lawmaker tagged embassy personnel in the prostitution rings victimizing OFWs.

“Secretary Del Rosario talked to Cong. Bello this afternoon and will meet him tomorrow in order to complete the information that we have and establish a way forward in terms of investigating our people,” Hernandez said.

Bello said two POLO personnel in Jordan and Kuwait are engaged in sex-for-repatriation racket. He said the witnesses filed affidavits detailing the incident.

Bello named the two labor officers as Mario Antonio, assistant labor attaché in Amman, Jordan, and Blas Marquez of the labor office in Kuwait.

He said a third officer who is a member of the augmentation team of the DFA in Damascus, Syria, whom he identified only as “Mr. Kim,” is exploiting distressed workers by having sex with them.

The lawmaker said he uncovered the activities of the three in his series of congressional inquiries into the plight of OFWs.

The DFA is asking alleged victims to come forward and file a formal complaint.

The controversy on sex-for-repatriation started when an unidentified female OFW who was part of a group of 46 household service workers (HSWs) deported from Kuwait supposedly sought the help of radio dzRH about her complaint that an “embassy official” allegedly demanded a sexual favor to facilitate her repatriation.

“The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) does not condone any inappropriate act of its officials and personnel, most especially if it involves the performance of their official duties. Integrity and sincerity in public service are among the core values that we in the DOLE have sworn to uphold and abide by in everything we do,” Baldoz said in a statement.

Baldoz also urged those who have information to come out and testify against labor officials and employees involved in the illegal activity.

“I am resolved to get to the bottom of any accusation of wrongdoing against our people to uphold their credibility and integrity, whether or not the allegations are malicious or with basis,” Baldoz said.

Leah Fortuna, chairman of the investigating body, said they are now in the process of identifying and locating the alleged victim.

Fortuna said tomorrow they would come out with their initial findings whether or not there is a valid case against POLO officials and employees.

Fortuna said their main task is to validate information and assist in the filing of appropriate charges against erring individuals.

When the report came out, Labor Attaché to Kuwait David Des Dicang said the Philippine embassy, through Consul General Raul Dado, created a probe team.

“After our investigation, we found out that only one of the 46 HSWs deported came from the Filipino Workers Resource Center. It would serve the interest of justice if the media names the complainant and the officials complained about,” Dicang said.

Recall of erring personnel sought

Bello urged Del Rosario and Baldoz to recall, investigate and prosecute the erring personnel. He said he received complaints that Antonio lets out Filipina workers sheltered at the Amman embassy at night “to service the sexual needs of wealthy Palestinian men.” He said the labor officer charges his clients $1,000 a night.

“This man’s activities are so disreputable and illegal that the government of Jordan has requested that he be removed,” he said.

Bello said before his Jordan posting, Antonio faced similar charges from embassy personnel and OFWs when he was assigned in Beirut, Lebanon and Tokyo, Japan.

“Our DOLE officials in Manila know of the accusations against this man, yet they pretend to hear nothing and refuse to recall him,” he said.

Quoting a Kuwait embassy official’s report, Bello said Marquez “has long been involved in sex-for-hire” using Filipinas staying at a distressed workers’ center inside the embassy compound.

“There have been many complaints against him but he eluded the dragnet because he is a townmate of now disgraced Ambassador Shulan Primavera (who has been accused of molesting a Filipina maid). Both of them came from Naga City,” he said.

He also quoted a 2009 Commission on Audit report that found Marquez was “illegally shortchanging OFWs of some P330,000 a year since 1997 by using higher exchange rate in issuing overseas employment certificates.”

He claimed that Marquez’s superiors in Kuwait and Manila know of his nefarious activities but are turning a blind eye.

“These officials are guilty of criminal complicity in prostitution,” he said.

As for “Mr. Kim,” Bello said the DFA officer was caught last Jan. 1 “in an intimate act with a female OFW at the embassy shelter for distressed workers at the poolside of the embassy.”

He said three witnesses have executed affidavits about the incident.

He said the officer “had engaged previously in intimate relationships with at least four other distressed OFWs.” – With Jess Diaz, Delon Porcalla, Aurea Calica, Pia Lee-Brago