Loren stresses need to add teeth to law versus mail-order brides

Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda-Leviste vowed to push for her proposed amendments to the Mail-Order Bride Act of 1990 (Republic Act 6955), saying the government should not be helpless in going after the perpetrators of such a scheme that preys on Filipino women.

Legarda cited a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) report that 815 Filipino women were repatriated last year after escaping or being rescued from mail-order bride syndicates or failed interracial marriages.

"That the DSWD and other government agencies had to bring back home and take care of these unfortunate Filipinas shows us the gravity of the problem," she said.

Legarda filed Senate Bill 1971 amending RA 6955 to penalize trafficking of Filipino women through match-making and outright prostitution through Internet websites.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman admitted that the government is helpless in going after those behind these websites since RA 6955 does not cover online mail-order bride schemes.

Last month, the Bureau of Immigration barred Americans Larry Pendarvis and Delaney Davis from entering the country for operating US-based mail-order bride websites featuring Filipino women.

The websites — www.filipina.com, www.filipinawife.com and www.filipinalady.com — have catalogues of hundreds of prospective Filipino brides, some of them teenagers. — Aurea Calica