Why did this story not make the headlines?

It is surprising that the story of Filipino workers who were kidnapped to work on the American embassy in Baghdad did not make the headlines in any Manila newspaper. I read of it first in the London edition of the Times and it was the major story of the day. Here was a story which should have rated high being full of drama, very contemporaneous and about Filipinos, yet it did not get top billing in our newspapers.

It may have happened a year ago but the London Times picked it up as a major story just a few days ago after a congressional hearing. An American civilian contractor described scenes of panic and hysteria last year as Filipino construction workers were told that they were on a plane bound for Baghdad rather than Dubai. “Passengers jumped out of their seats screaming in protest until a gun-toting air steward ordered them to sit down,” claimed Rory Mayberry, an emergency medical technician traveling on the same flight. Mayberry said the men were “kidnapped” to build America’s luxurious new embassy in Baghdad’s green zone.

The story came out because Mayberry testified before a congressional committee investigating allegations of fraud in the building of America’s largest diplomatic mission. The £300m fortified embassy is described as “a cluster of 21 high-rise towers in 104 acres on the west bank of the River Tigris. It will house 3,000 staff. It is one of the most dangerous building projects in the world and Filipinos had to be kidnapped to fill in the labor contract.

Mayberry, who worked briefly at the site, testified that he accompanied 51 Filipino workers who thought they were going to construct hotels in Dubai until 10 minutes into their flight. Mayberry said that in March 2006 the Filipinos boarded a plane in Kuwait chartered for First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting — the company in charge of the massive project.

 Here is the excerpted story according to the London Times:

“Mayberry described the anger that ensued when the men realized they had been tricked and were not bound for Dubai as their boarding passes stated. ‘When the plane took off and the captain announced we were headed for Baghdad, all you-know-what broke loose. People started shouting. It wasn’t until a security guy working for First Kuwaiti waved an MP5 [sub-machinegun] in the air that people settled down. They realised they had no choice,’ he said.

“‘Let me spell it out clearly. We were being smuggled past US security forces.’ Mayberry said. He recalled a Filipino telling him how excited he was about his new job in the United Arab Emirates as a telephone repair man. ‘Instead the men found themselves on a construction site in appalling conditions, living in cramped trailers.’

Mayberry’s claims were also confirmed by John Owens, an architectural expert with experience on US embassy projects. “When flying from Kuwait to Baghdad, I saw a bunch of workers with tickets to Dubai. Mine was the only one that said Baghdad,” he said.

“When I asked the First Kuwaiti manager, he said, ‘Shhh, don’t say anything. If Kuwaiti customs know they’re going to Iraq, they won’t let them on the plane.’”

Owens testified that conditions in the camp were “deplorable, beyond what any man should tolerate”. Workers from Asia and West Africa were paid between £120-£150 a month for working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, he claimed.

Congressman Henry Wax-man, Democratic chairman of the House oversight committee investigating the claims, said: “The project has been beset by allegations that the prime contractor, First Kuwaiti, has used forced labor to build the embassy, violating the laws against human trafficking and sending exactly the wrong message to Iraq and the rest of the world about US respect for human rights.”

An earlier Pentagon investigation into contractors operating in Iraq said it had identified abuses, some of which were “widespread”. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the Philippines president, has ordered a team to go to the Middle East to investigate.

That is fine. But where are the usually alert local press and human rights groups when all this was happening? Or when it happened and came to be known through a congressional inquiry in US Congress, it took the London Times to pick it up as a major story.

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Millennium Sapphire. In town this week is the proud owner of the biggest blue sapphire in the world. Well, only part owner, he said, because it is too costly to belong to a single individual. Whoever owns it, the sapphire is everyone’s dream according to Christian Dunaigre, of the Gubelin Gemological Laboratory, formerly with Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences.

Dubbed the Millennium Sapphire, it is 61,500 carat (12.3 kg) gem quality blue sapphire carving, it breaks three world records as the largest cut and polished sapphire, the largest carved sapphire says Daniel McKinney who is here to look into tourism projects. He and his group are looking into a 700 hectare island in the south which they plan to develop to rival ‘Boracay’. Only it will be more beautiful, says McKinney. An old hand in Asian tourism, he says he will be moving to the Philippines and start with the development of the island.

The largest natural blue sapphire was showcased in Seattle during the launch of Princess Cruises’ newest ship, Sapphire Princess. Discovered in Madagascar in 1995, only a few have seen the 28-pound football sized sapphire although it made worldwide news. It holds the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest carved sapphire. Award-winning Italian artist Alessio Boschi was commissioned to do the artwork. Among the carvings on the Millennium Sapphire are images of human achievement ranging from ancient wonders like the pyramids of Giza to modern day accomplishments such as Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. The carving was completed in 2000 and forthwith christened as the Millennium Sapphire.

As gemstone and work of art, the stone is worth tens of millions of dollars. Since I have not seen this unique work of art I could not share his enthusiasm about the stone. Its owners should exhibit it in Manila.

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