Palace: Heads will roll in OFW sex trade scandal

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday vowed that heads will roll in the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in the Middle East once the allegations of the four victims of an alleged sex-for-repatriation scheme are proven true.

“If at the end of the investigation, there is a finding that there is culpability, then the persons who are found to be liable will be held,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte declared over state-run radio dzRB.

Valte said they are letting the investigation of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) proceed without a specific timeframe to give them the latitude they need to establish the facts.

“The initial actions are already ongoing. As you all know, the secretary of foreign affairs has already met with the victims who have come forward and we assure everybody that the investigation will be fair,” Valte said.

She said that all the evidence that will be culled in the investigation will be “taken into consideration,” including the testimonies of the alleged victims, as well the denials of the POLO officials concerned.

DOLE under Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz exercises primary jurisdiction over POLO officers, but once they are already posted abroad, they eventually fall under the DFA and will work “under the supervision of the ambassador at where they are posted.”

Status quo

The DOLE, meanwhile, has no plans yet to recall all labor attaches assigned in the Middle East despite allegations of a sex-for-repatriation scheme by some of these officers.

“If we will recall our 15 labor attaches in the Middle East, it will only disrupt the operations of our POLOs in the region,” Labor Undersecretary Rebecca Chato said yesterday.

But Chato said that all the POLOs in the Middle East have been tasked to conduct their own investigation into the alleged sex-for-repatriation scheme.

She said the POLO officials were also instructed to undertake the necessary measures to prevent any labor personnel from engaging in sex trade victimizing distressed Filipino workers.

“We will not tolerate this activity if there is really such a thing,” Chato said.

She added that at this time, the DOLE is exerting all efforts to gather concrete evidence that would help build a tight case against labor officials involved in prostitution.

“We need concrete evidence since we will impose extreme sanctions,” she said.

The DFA has already recalled all its embassy officials in the Middle East.

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello earlier accused acting labor attaché to Jordan Mario Antonio and a POLO personnel in Kuwait of engaging in sex-for-repatriation activities.

Four female Filipino workers also surfaced, saying they were forced to have sex with labor officers in Riyadh and were also offered to foreign nationals.

Members of the investigating team created by the DOLE are flying to Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia this week to investigate the allegations against the labor officers.

Recruiters back probe

The recruitment industry yesterday backed the probe on the alleged sex-for-flight scheme.

However, the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. (PASEI) said the issue must be handled properly for the sake of female overseas workers who may become targets of indecent proposals.

In a statement, PASEI president Victor Fernandez said a quiet and impartial investigation is necessary to protect the integrity of millions of Filipino workers abroad.

“Without being judgmental, PASEI calls for calm and discernment in handling this so-called ‘sex-for-flight’ issue as it serves no purpose but to discredit the national integrity and demean our female overseas contract workers,” Fernandez said.

“Yes, it must be investigated and its perpetuators punished. However, by giving too much publicity and sensationalism to this, bordering almost on the erotic, is not doing anyone nor the country any good and can even cast a label – that all our female overseas workers can or may be traded for sex,” he added.      

Fernandez said the recruitment industry was saddened by reports that distressed Filipino workers are being peddled as sex slaves in exchange for repatriation.

But since there is no indisputable evidence yet on anyone suspected of perpetuating this scheme, Fernandez said the public must cease from immediately condemning embassy and labor officials.

Massive repatriation sought

The militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) yesterday called on the government to undertake a massive repatriation of distressed workers from the Middle East to prevent the proliferation of the sex-for-flight scheme.

“Migrant Filipinos in Saudi Arabia became more desperate to come home because of the crackdown against illegal workers. This condition has made them more vulnerable to abuse in the hands of sexual predators in the country’s Middle East consulates,” KMU chair Elmer Labog said.

Labog said the investigation into the sex-for-repatriation racket cannot substitute for the demand of undocumented Filipinos in Saudi Arabia for immediate repatriation.

Based on reports, Labog said there are at least 26,000 undocumented Filipino migrant workers in Saudi Arabia who are scrambling to either fix their papers or go home to the Philippines.

– With Mayen Jaymalin