MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) consulted 13 heads of posts in the Middle East and Africa after allegations of the sex-for-fly scheme preying on distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) surfaced last week.
The DFA said the consultations over the weekend are aimed at validating the sex trade allegations and to come up with punitive and preventive measures on such offenses allegedly perpetrated by overseas labor officials.
"[The discussions] resulted in several recommendations that the DFA will take up with other concerned government agencies, including identification of immediate measures such as the termination of local hires and the recall of individuals for investigation," the agency said in a statement released Sunday night.
The recommendations also include the improvement of intelligence-gathering efforts on sex offenses and the review of the existing rules and standard operating procedures governing the overall management of the Filipino Workers Resource Center and capacity-building for Foreign Service Posts to effectively handle sex-related offenses.
Last week, Akbayan Party-list Rep. Walden Bello disclosed that three labor officials in the Middle East are allegedly involved in pimping distressed OFWs in exchange for a ticket back to the Philippines.
At least four female OFWs have since surfaced, claiming that they were forced to have sex with labor officers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and were also offered to foreign nationals.
Labor attaché to Jordan Mario Antonio, one of the accused, has denied the allegations. He claimed that he has a clean track record and urged the public to wait for the results of the probe and not pass judge on him.
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Malacañang assured that heads will roll in the labor offices in the Middle East once the allegations of the sex trade scheme are proven.
“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 said over state-run radio dzRB on Sunday.