Forgotten Scandal: OFWs Sexually Abused by PHL Embassy Officials in Kuwait

This post was originally going to be a rehash of the past pointing out all the times that OFWs have been abused in Kuwait, which is rather often, but I stumbled onto something bigger and apparently forgotten: the sexual abuse and trafficking of OFWs by Philippine embassy officials.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/48294-trafficking-charges-ph-embassy-officials-kuwait

A Philippine embassy official has been implicated in the trafficking of migrant workers in Kuwait. 

In an initial report by the Kuwait Anti-Trafficking Task Force released Friday, January 17, trafficking and other related charges were recommended against Philippine consul Ibrahim Daligdig Tanandato, two embassy-hired contractuals, two embassy-hired lawyers, and 3 recruiters. 

Tanandato is the Assistant to (the) National Unit Head in the Philippine consular office in Kuwait. 

The complainants were allegedly hired by an embassy official to work as domestic helpers, even without any proper documentation as migrant workers. They were given a monthly salary of P8,000. 

The same official was also accused of deceiving one of the helpers into believing that her back pay had not yet been released by her previous employer.  

Sexual abuse, unpaid back pay, and a 20-hour work per day with no or limited food were just some of the conditions that complainants endured in the hands of their employers, based on sworn statements. 

Kuwaiti OFWs alleged that an official of the Philippine embassy in Kuwait hired them to work as domestic workers without proper documentation. They also allege they were subject to long days, little or no food, and sexual abuse by their employers. The DOJ recommended charges be brought against Philippine consul Ibrahim Daligdig Tanandato and many others.

In a nutshell, the complainants alleged in their Sworn Affidavits that a government official hired them to work as  domestic helpers with a salary of only fifty (50) Kuwaiti Dinar (KD) a month, and without any proper documentation from POLO-OWWA; that with abuse of power and position, the same government official took advantage of one of the victims by deceiving her that her  backwages have not been paid yet by her previous employer; that the Embassy-hired lawyers, together with the Embassy-hired contractuals and government  officials, demanded money from the complainants as Attorney's fees; and that a government official and an Embassy-hired lawyer advised and insisted that she settles her case in exchange of money. Two of the complainants also alleged that they were recruited as handlers of K-9 Bomb Sniffing Dog with a monthly salary of Php30,000 to Php35,000; that one of the complainants paid Php10,000 to one of the respondents as training fee, and Php23,000, purportedly, for the immigration officer; however, upon arrival in Kuwait, they were made to sign a document with a salary of only 110 KD per month. 

Further, the Task Force recommended that the DFA and the POEA look into the abuses allegedly committed by Kuwaiti or other foreign  employers/nationals, and that after conducting the necessary investigation, to study the possibility of permanently blacklisting them from employing OFWs, or representing them in  legal cases. 

It appears that a number of the complainants have been maltreated by their employers, or by the wives of their employers; that the Embassy-hired lawyers failed to assist the complainants in the prosecution of their cases against the offenders; that some employers did not pay the complainants' backwages; that a complainant was made to work for twenty (20) hours with limited or no food at all; that employers locked two of the  complainants in the house to prevent them from escaping; that a  complainant was sexually abused by her employer and his son; and that one employer touched and pinched the butt of one of the complainants.

https://www.doj.gov.ph/news_article.html?newsid=252

Amazingly there is no information on what happened next to Ibrahim Daligdig Tanandato or anyone else whom the DOJ recommended charges be filed against. They all practically disappear from the news and from the internet. No word on if they were actually charged and convicted or what. Nothing.  

Aside from Kuwaiti embassy officials trafficking OFWs one official was involved in a sex-for-flight scheme. The NBI recommend charges be filed.

https://www.doj.gov.ph/news_article.html?newsid=225

Said Final Report recommends that charges for Attempted Rape and three (3) counts of Abuses Against Chastity be filed against a male Assistant Labor Attaché (hereafter referred to as "the ALA") assigned to a Philippine Embassy in the Middle East, for acts allegedly committed against three (3) distressed, female Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who were seeking assistance from the Philippine Embassy. Also recommended to be charged with Attempted Rape and Abuses Against Chastity, is a local hire, who served as the driver of a Labor Attaché (hereinafter referred to as "the LA") assigned to the same Philippine Embassy. 

One witness, a male distressed/runaway OFW and a volunteer worker at the POLO Office, stated in his Sworn Statement that he witnessed the attempt of the ALA to rape complainant AAA on 18 May 2013, as he was inside the pantry, where the divider was only made of glass and through which he could clearly see the room or office where the assault was taking place. He saw the ALA forcibly kissing AAA, while the latter tried to get away. The ALA, however, held her hands and, thereafter, pulled her into a rest room. Two (2) to three (3) minutes thereafter, the witness saw AAA run out of the room.  

Another complainant ("CCC"), on whose account the third count of Abuses Against Chastity against the ALA is based, sought help from POLO-OWWA after escaping from her abusive employer, who, at some point, had locked her in a room for two days and two nights without any food and water, causing her to pass out and be hospitalized. She was interviewed at the POLO Office, the last of which was conducted by the ALA, who also brought her to Bahay Kalinga. She, too, in her Sworn Statement, alleged that she was verbally abused and disrespected by the ALA, including one occasion when, while they were inside a car, the ALA asked her if she was ever touched by her employer end, if not, whether he (the ALA) could touch her instead. 

She also recounted receiving phone calls from a certain "Muhammad", who offered her a part-time job involving "going to heaven" or just a one-night stand, in exchange for her ticket to the Philippines. She received such calls on more than one occasion, and when she rejected his offer, he requested a photo of her in her underwear instead. She reasons to believe, however, that "Muhammad" is actually the ALA, based on, among others, her familiarity with his voice, the fact that he was the only one who knew her contact number, and the person's knowledge about personal details about herself that only the ALA knew about. When she finally arrived back in the Philippines late in May 2013, she found out that she already had a ticket as far back as February 2013, which the ALA never disclosed to her.

The report is long and lewd and a must read. Whatever happened to this man though? No idea. But a few months after this DOJ report three men involved in the sex-for-flight scheme were rehired at the Kuwait embassy.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/pinoyabroad/359202/embassy-labor-officer-accused-of-sex-for-flight-in-kuwait-rehired/story/

The three men have been identified by the government's Kuwait Anti-Trafficking Task Force as Case Officers Joselito Atienza, Omar Khalil, and Saleh "Casley" Watamama. All of them are staff members under the Philippine Overseas Labor Office/Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO/OWWA) of the Department of Overseas Labor and Employment (DOLE).  

The “sex-for-flight” scheme first erupted in Philippine media as part of revelations by Rep. Walden Bello in June of 2013 that involved Philippine officials in other embassies in the Middle East.   

Assistant Secretary Lila Ramos Shahani of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster, under the Office of the President, told GMA News Online that she had earlier informed her superiors there is ample evidence to suggest such activities had been taking place since the mid-1990s.   

Several other embassy-based personnel who have been accused were recalled to the home office to face charges, but the three men remained in Kuwait. They have even retained the same positions despite a January 17, 2014 memorandum from Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz ordering the non-renewal of all POLO-OWWA local hires in Kuwait.  

In March, or two months after the order from Baldoz, labor attaché Cesar Chavez issued a memo retaining the three men. He told GMA News Online in a phone interview from Kuwait that doing so would make it easier to investigate them.  

“It was the collective decision of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the DOLE to hold on to those implicated in the sex-for-flight controversy, because we are expecting the Department of Justice to conduct a preliminary investigation on the matter,” Chavez explained in a memo justifying the contract renewal.

These three men were accused of improper and criminal activities but were rehired because it would "make it easier to investigate them." But was there an investigation? What happened to this men? Were they charged and sentenced? Again no idea. Their names disappear and the trail goes cold. 

As the above article says it was in June 2013 that sexual scandals inside the Philippines' embassies were exposed when Rep. Bello made several stunning accusations.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/31556-embassy-officials-prostitution-overseas-filipino-workers

Philippine embassy staff in various posts in the Middle East are sexually abusing and prostituting distressed overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). 

This was disclosed by Akbayan Rep Walden Bello, chairman of the House committee on overseas workers' affairs, on Tuesday, June 18.  

Branding them as "predators," Bello identified the officials as: 

• Mario Antonio, the assistant labor attaché in Jordan

• Blas Marquez, a local hire or a contractual employee of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Kuwait

• A certain "Kim," who is a member of the Augmentation Team of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) at the embassy in Damascus, Syria

"Sexual abuse on our womenfolk perpetrated by their hosts in a foreign country is an awful crime. But there is something more awful, and that is their exploitation by their own compatriots in that strange land," Bello said in a press conference.  

Bello gathered the information through interviews with department and embassy insiders, affidavits of witnesses, and confidential reports. 

"I am asking [Foreign Affairs] Secretary Albert Del Rosario and [Labor] Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, two individuals that I respect greatly, to move immediately to recall the officials I have identified, dismiss them from government service, and criminally prosecute them," Bello said. 

Antonio and Marquez are accused of running "prostitution rings" in Jordan and Kuwait, respectively. Antonio supposedly sold at least one female OFW for as high US$1,000 (about P40,000) for sex, according to Bello.  

"Kim," on the other hand, was supposedly caught in January "in an intimate act with a female OFW at the embassy shelter for distressed OFWs.  

Bello said these "predators" should be "stripped of their positions," recalled from their posts, and prosecuted in the Philippines.  

Bello's exposé is based on his interviews with "unimpeachable sources" at the DFA and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). These sources "asked us to expose the criminals in their ranks because their acts are giving their agencies a bad name," Bello added.

These are explosive accusations and apparently the only thing that happened is Mario Antonio and Blas Marquez were relieved from their positions. Their trail goes cold rather quickly. Were they charged? Convicted? What about all the other people allegedly involved in the abuse of OFWs in the Jordanian and Kuwaiti embassies?

And what about the evidence Lila Ramos Shahani claims to have that this kind of activity has been happening since the mid-1990's? What is the nature of that evidence? Who does it involve? Has anyone from the NBI or DOJ investigated this evidence? Are these activities still continuing at the Philippines' embassies? Are the stories above just the tip of the iceberg of decades of sexual abuse of OFWs at the hands of Philippine embassy officials?

Despite the abuses OFWs in Kuwait and the rest of the Middle East face at the hands of their employers the government still allows them to be sent to their doom. Why is that? Just a few days ago the government issued another ban on OFWs to Kuwait. The previous ban was nearly two years ago when the same situation, the death of a maid, occurred. 

In 2011 the government threatened to place a ban on OFWs going to Kuwait because they could not guarantee their protection which is the same scenario happening now.

https://www.arabianbusiness.com/uae-kuwait-qatar-face-ban-on-filipino-maids--418458.html

Ultimately Kuwait did not make the cut of 41 countries the government banned OFWs from working in. That does not mean Kuwait was or is safe for OFWs. It's not. History makes that abundantly clear. 

Stabbed in the vagina 

An OFW who has sought help from Embassy officials told of her experience of abuse and exploitation. 

"Kris," not her real name, said she decided to escape from her Kuwaiti female employer after the employer stabbed her vagina, inserted pepper inside her private parts and sprayed it with a liquid bleaching product. 

She sought the help of then head of the DFA Assistance to Nationals Section Ibrahim Tanandato who assured her a case will be filed. 

Kris said her case did not move even after one year of her stay at the POLO-OWWA shelter. 

Shortly after, she was surprised when she was informed she lost her case already. 

Kris told ABS-CBN that it was a staff member of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait who helped her after learning about her case from another source. It was the American who recommended a human rights lawyer to follow up her case in court. It was only then that the case eventually moved.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/01/20/14/ph-officials-kuwait-linked-human-trafficking

"Kris" was disgracefully and shamefully abused by her employer and the Philippine embassy sat on their butts!  It took the help of a U.S. Embassy staff member to get her case moving. How's that for meddling in the Philippines' sovereign affairs!

The current ban on OFWs to Kuwait won't last forever but it seems OFWs will continue to be abused by their employers, their employer's pet lions, and those who are tasked with protecting them.

Retards in the Government 135

It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government. 

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/277647/police-officer-niece-shot-outside-cebu-city-home

A police officer and his nine-year-old niece landed in a medical facility after they were shot several times outside their house located along Cabreros Street in Barangay Basak San Nicolas around 9 p.m. on Thursday, December 26. 

Police Staff Sergeant Nelson Esolana, desk officer of Mambaling Police Station, identified the police officer as Patrolman Percival Eborlas who is currently assigned in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental. 

Witness accounts said that a gray van was seen passing by the area. 

It stopped a few meters from the house where Eborlas was staying. 

A man came out of the fire and then fired several times at Eborlas who was with his niece when the shooting incident happened.

Could be drug related. A search for this man's name brings up an article discussing his, or a man with his same name, alleged involvement in the drug trade by receiving payola and letting suspected go free. 18 Cops Linked To Drug Payola.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1204816/palace-on-us-ban-we-are-not-bothered-by-it

“We’re not bothered by it,” Panelo said. “First, that’s their process. We cannot intrude in the same way we react when they intrude in our process. Number two, the very provision says there should be credible information before they ban any official in the Philippines.” 

The Palace official expressed confidence that the US government would not be able to establish “credible information” in the alleged “wrongful” detention of De Lima as he insisted that the senator’s imprisonment went through the proper judicial process.

It turns out this was a lie. Of course the Palace is deeply bothered by it as seen in their threat to impose visas on American tourists and in banning the two US Senators behind this law.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/277693/ph-bans-entry-of-2-us-senators-backing-de-lima

“The President is immediately ordering the Bureau of Immigration to deny US Senators Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy, the imperious, uninformed and gullible American legislators who introduced the subject provision in the US 2020 Budget, entry to the Philippines,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing Friday.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/277690/ph-to-require-visas-for-americans-if-us-ban-on-filipino-execs-is-enforced

“Should a ban from entry into US territory be enforced against Philippine officials involved in – or by reason of – Senator de Lima’s lawful imprisonment, this government will require all Americans intending to come to the Philippines to apply and secure a visa before they can enter Philippine territory,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

"Should" is very important. No one has been banned entry in to US territory yet. There is the potential for this to happen but it hasn't actually happened yet. Funny that Duterte has banned the two Senators from entry into the Philippines and not all the legislators for voting for the bill and Trump for signing it into law.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1206790/almost-90-rogue-cops-dismissed-under-gamboas-watch

“We have dismissed almost ninety personnel, almost two policemen dismissed everyday, and continuing ito (and we are continuing this),” Gamboa told reporters after firecracker inspection at Bocaue, Bulacan on Saturday.

It's good they are dismissing corrupt cops but it's not good that there are so many corrupt cops who need dismissing! And what about criminal charges?  Will these cops face time in prison?

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/720369/army-unit-apologizes-admits-manipulating-photo-to-protect-former-rebels/story/

The Philippine Army's 9th Infantry Division has admitted that its line unit manipulated a picture supposedly depicting the surrender of New People's Army rebels in Masbate recently. 

Major Ricky Aguilar, the spokesperson of the 9th ID, said there was no intention to mislead; only to protect the identities of the "former rebels." 

"We admit to have committed a mistake though by manipulating the picture for the sole purpose of ensuring the safety of the lives of the FRs and their families. We apologize for the honest mistake. We are hoping for your kind understanding," he added. 

Research by GMA News indicated that there were similar photographs of supposed rebel returnees that the military released as early as 2017.

The Army lied to the public by manipulating a photo. They added a group of alleged rebel surrenderes to a picture of rifles sitting on a table. What else have they been lying about? How many more photos and press releases are fake?

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/277949/ex-zambo-del-norte-mayor-current-vice-mayor-guilty

The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division has found former Labason, Zamboanga del Norte, Mayor Wilfredo Balais and incumbent Vice Mayor Virgilio Go guilty of graft in connection with the anomalous purchase of a secondhand vehicle in 2011. 

Both were sentenced to up to 12 years in prison aside from being perpetually disqualified from public office. The case stemmed from the municipality’s procurement, through Go, of a secondhand Nissan Patrol from Eduardo Ayunting of Oro Cars Display Center for P960,000. 

However, there was no proper public bidding and the prosecution said the vehicle was previously sold to Balais through Ayunting for only P500,000.Both Go and Balais told the court they had actually conducted a public bidding but prosecutors were able to present evidence that the process was rife with irregularities.

Guilty of graft and facing up to 12 year sin prison because of an anomalous purchase of a used car.  They did not go tutor get proper public bidding process.  Imagine ending your political career and going to prison over a used car!

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1089664

The commander of the police community precinct in Barangay Turo here was relieved for abandoning her post on Friday. 

Col. Emma Libunao, acting Bulacan police director, relieved Capt. Norheda Usman, 3rd platoon leader of the 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company, who allegedly attended a Christmas party. 

Aside from Usman, four other members of her platoon were relieved by Libunao. 

They were Master Sgt. Siegfried Dizon, Staff Sgt. Benjamin Villasis Jr., Patrolman Ronald Manzanade Jr., and Patrolwoman Imee Sheryl Florentino. 

"Aside from abandoning her post, Usman has not yet replaced the police directory in front of their office with Gen. Oscar Albayalde still listed as the PNP chief," Libunao added.

Looks like female PNP officers are not any better than the men.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/12/30/duterte-ano-pnp-chief.html

President Rodrigo Duterte said he will leave the Philippine National Police (PNP) to the Interior Secretary. 

In a speech delivered in Cotabato Monday, Duterte said that this is because Manila police officers cannot compare to those in the provinces. 

[Translation: The police in the provinces are good, but the ones in Manila? That's why I didn't appoint a PNP (Chief).] 

Instead, Duterte said that he would leave the organization in the hands of Interior Secretary Eduardo Año. 

[Translation: I told General Año to handle it. You fix the police so when we make an exit two years from now, Filipinos don't have that big of a problem.]

If the police in the provinces are good why not point someone from there? The problems plaguing the PNP are way too big to be fixed in two years. In fact they have been fixing the same problems with the same solutions for years! Read all about it here. Also the DILG Secretary already has enough on his hands without being de facto PNP Chief.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/12/30/1980834/duterte-tells-abs-cbn-owners-just-sell-tv-network

Three months before the expiration of ABS-CBN's franchise, President Rodrigo Duterte Monday said the television network should just be sold as he vowed to give its owners an episode they won't forget. 

Duterte, who has accused ABS-CBN of biased reporting and of "swindling" him for not airing his campaign commercial, said there is no assurance that the network's franchise would be renewed. The Lopez-owned network's franchise is set to expire on March 30, 2020. 

"Your contract is about to expire. You will try to renew it but I don't know what will happen to that," the president said during his visit to earthquake victims in M'lang, North Cotabato. 

"Kung ako sa inyo ipagbili niyo na 'yan. Kasi ang mga Filipino ngayon lang makaganti sa inyong kalokohan (If I were you, I would sell it. It's only now that Filipinos would be able to get back at your wrongdoings). And I will make sure that you will remember this episode of our times forever," he added. 

Duterte also accused broadsheet Philippine Daily Inquirer of being a "mouthpiece" of oligarchs. 

"You son of a b****, Inquirer, everyone. You are silent. Because you are the mouthpiece of oligarchs in the Philippines. You son of a b**** Inquirer, you are on the take," the president said.   

"You are no better than a prostitute. You sell your talent to the rich. Against the poor. Yan. That's why I have always been angry with the rich," he added. 

Duterte claimed owners of the broadsheet have used their influence to evade taxes. 

"They did not pay taxes, just like donut, just like Inquirer," the president said, apparently referring to the Prietos, the family that owns the broadsheet and the
exclusive Philippine franchisee of Dunkin' Donuts.

More ranting from Duterte about ABS-CBN. If Inquirer did not pay taxes then why did the BIR not go after them? The fault goes both ways in that matter.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1207448/village-exec-who-had-surrendered-as-drug-suspect-shot-dead

A village councilor, who had surrendered himself as a drug suspect, was shot dead by still unidentified assailants aboard a pickup on Monday (Dec. 30). 

The Eastern Visayas police reported that Sony Buranday, 54, councilor of Calsadahay village, Burauen town, Leyte province, was ambushed while driving his motorcycle past 1 a.m. at the village of Rizal, La Paz town, also in Leyte. 

Buranday died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds. 

Buranday was among those who had surrendered themselves to authorities in the early days of the anti-drug campaign of the Duterte administration.

The man was on a list and now he is dead.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1208105/south-cotabato-village-chairman-shot-dead-in-polomolok-market

A barangay chairman in Polomolok, South Cotabato was shot dead on New Year’s Eve at the town’s public market. 

Abdullah Nilong II, chair of Barangay Lapu of Polomolok town, had just emerged from a drug store and was walking along Miranda Street at the town’s public market when a man wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet shot him in the head and body at past 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to Lt. Colonel Lino Capellan, spokesman of the Region 12 police. 

Police said after shooting, the gunman walked away and boarded a motorcycle being driven by his cohort.

Motorcycle assassins strike again!

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1207516/duterte-kill-list-now-includes-recruiters-who-sell-ofws-as-slaves

Renewing his threat to kill government officials and men in uniform involved in the drug trade, Duterte said he saw no ofher way to deal with the rogue officials and officers than kill them. 

“I am warning you again… be it the police, the mayors or village officials: You will die. If you engage in drugs, there is no other way to deal with you except to kill you,” the President said. 

“I would also like to kill those recruiters responsible for the agony of Filipinos in Arab countries,” he said. “Not all, but there are Arab countries that still practice slavery.”

Will illegal OFW recruiters now be killed by motorcycle assassins?

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1208241/cop-arrested-after-he-shot-two-companions-in-cavite-during-new-year-revelry

A 50-year-old policeman was taken under police custody after he allegedly shot two people in Cavite during the New Year celebration. 

A police report on Wednesday identified the suspect as Staff Sergeant Rolando Luzana, who is assigned at Camp Crame Crime Laboratory Office. 

Police reported that Luzana had a heated argument with victims Mark Jason Rael, 22, and Jedrick de Guzman, 18, along Barangay Pag-asa 2, Imus City on Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. 

At he height of the altercation, Luzana reportedly drew his firearm and shot Rael and De Guzman.

Cop gets in argument with two people and shoots them both. At least no one died.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1208120/lawyer-shoots-cop-on-new-years-day-in-n-vizcaya

A 39-year-old lawyer of the Commission on Audit was arrested on New Year’s Day (Wednesday, January 1) after he allegedly shot at police officers who accosted him for illegal gun discharge in Nueva Vizcaya town of Solano. 

Alvin Endrinal was reportedly drunk when he began firing his cal. 40 pistol outside his home at the Salgado Apartment in Purok Ilang-ilang, Barangay (village) Quirino at 2:30 a.m., according to Police Major Ferdinand Laudencia, Solano police chief. 

Frightened neighbors called the police. But responding policemen took cover when Endrinal started shooting at them after they tried to pacify him.

A lawyer with the COA fires his gun in celebration of the New Year and then shoots at the cops who come to take him in. At least no one died.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1208245/dbm-govt-pay-hiked-despite-budget-delay

The increase in salaries of government workers will push through as scheduled this month despite the delay in the signing into law of the P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget.
Acting Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado told the Inquirer that the implementation of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 5 would be effective January. 

President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign this year’s budget before Jan. 6. 

SSL 5 (for civilian government employees) is also awaiting Mr. Duterte’s signature. 

While the 2020 budget was yet to be signed by the President, Avisado said he had already issued guidelines for the advances to pay for personnel services as well as maintenance and other operating expenses at the start of the year. 

As for the programmed expenditures for capital outlay and regular programs, the funds will be released “after completion of publication following the signature of the President of the 2020 GAA [General Appropriations Act],” Avisado said. 

Last month, Sen. Sonny Angara, who chairs the Senate finance committee, said SSL 5 would cover yearly increases in government personnel salaries starting this year until 2023.

No budget yet but already prepping for salary increases. Why didn't Duterte sign the budget into law as soon as it came across his table? Why the delay?

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1208399/duterte-to-file-syndicated-estafa-vs-pangilinan-ayala-over-water-deals

Asked if the President has substantive evidence in filing the case, Panelo said, “the very evidence is the contract itself.” 

“Sinasabi niya it mirrors the provisions of the Anti-Graft. Lahat ng mga ginawa nila labag sa Anti-Graft (He [Duterte] is saying it [water deals] mirrors the provisions of the Anti-Graft Law. All they did was against the Anti-Graft law,” Panelo said.

Duterte keeps giving grief to "oligarchs" and "billionaires" but what about officials of the Philippine government who crafted the contract? What about Fidel Ramos who signed it and Arroyo who extended the contract? Will he be filing cases against them as well?

Drunk Firefighters

I take pictures of just about everything. Whenever I see something that strikes me I break out my camera and take a snapshot. Like this fire station.

What's so interesting about this you ask? Nothing. It's just an ordinary fire station and those are ordinary fire trucks.  But what's around the corner? Let's take a look.

The unknown beckons.  Let's plunge into it.

Why look at that! It's a bench with 5 empty bottles of Tanduay scattered about. These firemen cannot even clean up their trash after a rousing drunk. Why are they drinking on the job anyway? What if a call comes in and they have to go fight a fire? A drunk fireman is no good. They could also end up killing each other.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1089372

A personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) here died while another was wounded after they stabbed each other following the station’s Christmas party that ended around 2 a.m. on Monday. 

The fatality was identified as Isaac Cabana and the wounded, Cornelio Silva, who both have the rank of Fire Officer 3. 

Initial police investigation showed the two firefighters remained at the venue, just in front of the city fire station on San Juan Street, Barangay 8, after the celebration ended. 

Maj. Sherlock Gabana, chief of Police Station 2, said Cabana sustained a wound in the neck and was declared dead at a hospital. 

Silva is being treated for abdomen and back wounds, he added. 

Gabana said their other colleagues saw them “hugging” each other, and then found the two already injured.

You can see in the forefront of this picture two cases of 1 litre size Red Horse beer. You can also see a bottle on the table. Hard to tell exactly what it is but it's probably alcohol. 

Why do Filipino firemen and policemen drink on the job and store alcohol in the staff kitchen? Why is this allowed? Who is monitoring these people? Just another problem in this problematic country.

Vegetable Vendors at the Grocery Store

There are a lot of things in the Philippines I do not and never will understand. One of those things is a grocery store, in this case Robinson's, allowing vendors to sell their vegetables on the steps of the store.

Look at these people.  They are simply in the way. In the last picture the vendor is leaning on someone's car! And in the picture before that the produce is in the of any car who wants to park!   Why does the management allow this?

Well it turns out they don't! I asked them about these vendors and they said they have been told to not come around but they cannot be controlled. They were told to go away but they keep coming back.  So what good are the security guards??

I think if Robinsons really wanted these people to leave they would make sure they left. It's not that hard to make unwanted people leave.

Martial Law: Lessons Learned Part 2

This is not only the last blog post of 2019 but it is the last blog post about martial law in Mindanao and the last post about lessons learned during martial law. The remaining categories to look at are Policy, Foreign Assistance, and Marawi and Mindanao.

3. Policy

Duterte's decision to extend martial law a third time for the whole of 2018 was the spark that caused certain Senators to bring a suit before the Supreme Court.  Those who supported martial law thought the suit was stupid and superfluous but they were wrong because the verdict set a stunning legal precedent.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/966785/sc-congress-may-indefinitely-prolong-martial-law

“The Constitution is silent on how many times Congress may extend a proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus,” the court said in a decision written for the majority by Associate Justice Noel Tijam. 

“The manner of Congress’ deliberation with respect to the President’s request for extension of martial law in Mindanao for one year is not subject to judicial review,” it added. 

The court said the 30-year-old Constitution “does not fix a period for the duration of any extension of a proclamation or suspension but expressly leaves the matter to Congress.” 

“Congress has the power to extend and determine the period of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus under Article VII, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution,” the court said. 

“If the Constitutional Commission had intended to limit any extension to 60 days, it would have been expressly stated and would not have been left to Congress,” it ruled.

Like it or love it, indefinite martial law via extension is now 100% constitutional. Future presidents who decide to impose martial law can do so with impunity as long as Congress concurs with them. Surprisingly enough in the proposed federal constitution the statement about martial law is given word for word as in the current constitution with no change to reflect this ruling from the Supreme Court.

(b) In case of invasion, rebellion, or lawless violence, when the public safety requires it, he may, for a period not exceeding sixty (60) days, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law. Within forty-eight (48) hours from the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the President shall submit a report in person or in writing to the Congress. The Congress, voting jointly, by a vote of at least a majority of all its Members in regular or special session, may revoke such proclamation or suspension, which revocation shall not be set aside by the President. Upon the initiative of the President, the Congress may, in the same manner, extend such proclamation or suspension for a period to be determined by the Congress, if the invasion or rebellion shall persist and public safety requires it.

https://pederalismo.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Concom-Final-Official-Copy-Proposed-Federal-Constitution.pdf

Maybe legal precedent precludes any need to change the wording in this part of the constitution.

Another policy change is the imposition of martial law itself which is to say the way it was carried out.  Last week I wrote that Mindanao was under the rigorous military rule of martial law but that is not exactly true. From the beginning we were told this would be a different kind of martial law.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/615054/afp-on-duterte-s-marcos-type-martial-law-nationwide-but-sans-abuses/story/

Padilla said the military is making sure human rights are not violated during the current implementation of martial law in Mindanao, based on Duterte’s Proclamation No. 216. 

“You can see how the military is implementing martial law now, its complete regard for human rights and IHL [International humanitarian law] and the other protocols that have been established. So if there are any complaints, we are open to receiving those complaints and acting on it immediately,” Padilla said. 

“And that is also one of the instructions of the President previously that you also may have heard that he must ensure we are able to protect and save lives,” he added, referring to Duterte’s statement that law-abiding citizens need not worry about martial law.

Aside from vowing to implement an abuse-free martial law it seems the AFP put in place an invisible martial law.

https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/philippine-officials-consider-extending-martial-law-mindanao

Martial law lets troops and police work together without normal legal checks and balances. Authorities can also enforce curfews and randomly search vehicles. 

But in much of Mindanao, martial law is hardly noticeable. Around the port city Cagayan de Oro, for example, cars stop only between the domestic airport and downtown for routine checks. Police do not enforce curfews in the downtown mega-malls, upscale restaurants and major high-rise hotel. 

Road checkpoints turn up more often on highways around the Bangsamoro region, home to some 3.8 million mostly Muslim Filipinos. 

Just how was martial law implemented in Mindanao? LGU's and the PNP claimed the crime rate dropped during martial law but that may be due to the psychological effects of knowing martial law has been declared rather than the heavy presence of AFP troops and PNP officers. Attacks continued to happen even with martial law in place. These attacks include NPA, ISIS suicide bombings, and armed ridos or clan wars.  The AFP should look in depth at how martial law was implemented and at it's true effectiveness or ineffectiveness.

4. Foreign Assistance

When the Marawi siege ended Duterte thanked the Chinese for sending the gun that killed Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon. It was all a lie. 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-militants-killing/doubts-about-smoking-gun-as-duterte-lauds-china-role-in-rebel-killing-idUSKBN1CP19W

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was eager to credit new ally Beijing in the death of militant leader Isnilon Hapilon, saying it was a Chinese rifle that fired the bullet that finished off Islamic State’s “emir” in Southeast Asia. 

The smoking gun that took out the region’s most feared insurgent on Monday was one of the 100 sniper rifles donated by China, Duterte said, although the ranger unit conducting the operation said the shot was fired from a heavier weapon mounted on an armored vehicle.  

“I would like to officially inform you, Ambassador Zhao, that the rifle that killed Hapilon was a sniper rifle made in China,” Duterte announced late on Thursday, to warm applause from the crowd.  

But the version of the final hours of the life of Hapilon and another rebel leader, Omarkhayam Maute, posted on the Facebook page of a member of the Army Scout Rangers, tells a different story.  

The blow-by-blow account on “Scout Ranger Books”, posted the day Hapilon was killed, tells of how the 8th Scout Ranger Company was engaging militants and was not aware the rebel commanders were among those they killed, until fleeing hostages told them.  

The soldiers operating at night used thermal imaging on an armored vehicle and the shot that killed Hapilon came from a gun mounted on top of it, according to the account. No mention was made of Chinese weapons or snipers.

A complete and total lie. The news about American involvement was also a lie. It started out by Duterte saying he was unaware the Americans were helping in Marawi.

http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/duterte-unaware-of-us-role-in-marawi-admits-philippine-army-is-pro-american/

President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said he is not aware of the role played by the US Special Forces in Marawi City. 

“I am not aware of that until they arrived,” Duterte said in an interview with the press inside the Camp Brig. General Edilberto Evangelista on Sunday afternoon. 

Duterte also added that he has not approached any country, not even from the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which he heads, to ask for help in fighting terrorism in Marawi. He said the government forces is capable of fighting. 

“Wala, wala. I have not done that. I have not made an appeal. I said I did not even know that the American government has been providing technical… So we better see to our own… I never approached any American to say that, “Tumulong kayo.” (No, no, I have not done that. I have not made an appeal… I never approached any American to say “help us”)” Duterte said.

What a bold faced lie.  A lie of omission. Duterte does not need to ask the Americans for assistance because they are always providing assistance. Weapons, training, intelligence, the whole she-bang. It is also inconceivable that the commander-in-chief would not know if a foreign military was assisting his own.  DND Secretary let the cat out of the bag a few months later.

It has always been the US helping the Philippines. Not long after the Marawi siege Operation Enduring Freedom morphed into Operation Pacific Eagle. This operation is a collaboration between the US military and the AFP.  The US provides weapons, training, and intelligence assistance. While the Philippines has received weapons from China and Russia and even Israel the USA remains the primary partner of the Philippines regarding national security.

This partnership will remain intact for the foreseeable future no matter what bad things Dutere says about America. The AFP should take advantage of the Americans by learning all they can and applying it properly.

5. Marawi and Mindanao

We all know that martial was declared over the whole of Mindanao because of the Marawi siege. Martial was kept in place so the AFP could wipe out the rest of the terrorist forces.  While the AFP has not let up in the war against terrorism some of these groups have continued to wreck havoc in the region. Most recently is the attack in North Cotabato allegedly but the BIFF which is aligned with ISIS.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1205167/afp-blames-biff-for-mindanao-blasts-that-wounded-23-people

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday blamed the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) for the series of explosions that rocked central Mindanao on Sunday night, wounding 23 people, including nine soldiers.

But the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) splinter group denied it had a hand in the explosions, saying it does not attack civilians.

Why is the MILF apologising for the BIFF?  The point here is that despite martial law attacks have continued to happen. Under martial law suicide bombers became a reality for the first time. One of this bombers was a Filipino despite the fact that the public was repeatedly told that would never happen because Filipinos are not disposed to commit such an attack.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1813641

Lasuca was the first Filipino who was reported to have carried out a suicide bombing. He was responsible for the first blast on June 28 which also resulted in the killing of three soldiers.

Even though terrorism continued the PNP claimed that regular types of crime dropped substantially each year martial law was in effect.

Citing crime data, Corpus said that the region registered an eight percent reduction for 2017, 30.06 percent reduction in 2018 and 27.04 percent from January to October this year. 

The decrease covers the Eight Focus Crimes such as Murder, Homicide, Rape, Physical Injury, Robbery, Theft, carnapping and stealing of motorcycles and also on crimes covered by special laws and ordinances. 

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/11/23/police-commanders-in-central-mindanao-favor-martial-law-extension/

The people claimed they felt safer and that they loved martial law.  "Martial law forever," said some Mindanaoans proving that Mindanao is such a wild place that martial law is necessary to tame it.

Marawi has not fared well at all since the end of the siege. After several false starts the rubble was cleared paving the way for rebuilding the city. However the rebuilding is going with no input from residents. Problems abounded with a lack of property permits so that demolition of buildings and compensation to owners was largely impossible.  The people of Marawi have rightly complained that they have been forgotten by the government. Eventually the city will be rebuilt but likely not by the target year of 2020.  

Mindanao has calmed down since the Marawi siege and the number of ISIS followers has decreased  but the island is basically right back where it was before martial law. It remains a land of lawless violence which foreign countries have warned their citizens not to visit. Islamic terror groups as well as clan warfare between private families with their large private armies continue to endanger the populace. It seems martial law has had little effect on Mindanao. Only a comprehensive study by the AFP would reveal the total effects martial law had on Mindanao.

So what can we learn from two and a half years of martial law in Mindanao? I think the biggest lesson is that the AFP is inconsistent in the way it has prosecuted the war on terrorism. They are eager for the fight but underestimate ISIS. They set deadlines and then they move the goalposts saying the previous deadline was impossible. They declare the terrorist groups to be irrelevant but each group is able to attract new members and wage campaign against the government. And this has been standard operating procedure for years for the AFP. In 50 years of fighting against communists and Muslims the AFP continues to make the same mistakes. Without a serious and thorough change in the way the AFP fights the war on terrorism will last another 50 years. It's not impossible that the AFP will change but it's not likely. Now after this fiasco with doctored photographs the AFP is not going to start 2020 off on a positive note.

The Nightcrawlers Documentary Review

Two documentaries about the Philippines' drug war have been released in 2019. The first one, On the President's Orders, caught the ire of the Palace with Panleo calling the film black propaganda before he even saw it. The second, The Nightcrawlers, appears to have slipped under Panelo's radar.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/films/the-nightcrawlers/#/

National Geographic, which is the studio releasing this documentary, describes the film thusly:

With unprecedented access, The Nightcrawlers is an unflinching exposé of Philippines President Duterte’s war on drugs, in which some claim over 20,000 people have been killed. RL, a former staff photographer for a prominent newspaper, leads the Manila Nightcrawlers, a small group of determined photojournalists on a mission to expose the true cost of the violent campaign. Through covering both sides of the conflict, The Nightcrawlers reveals a harrowing twist behind Duterte’s deadly crusade.

Just what they mean by "covering both sides  of the conflict" as well as the "harrowing twist" is not clear to me at all after having viewed the film.

Nightcrawler is the term for a photojournalist who works the night shift documenting crimes. In this movie there are two groups of nightcrawlers. The first is the group of the photojournalists. The second is a group of alleged assassins who call themselves "The Group." The film actually starts off on an island where members of The Group are preparing to go out on a mission.  We see them clean their weapons, sail to the mainland, and the camera follows their motorcycle as they ride into the city.

We then meet the real star of this picture, Raffy Lerma. He is racing to a scene to take pictures of another dead body. This time the victim is a 15 year old boy. Amazingly we even witness the moment he takes his world famous Pieta photograph.

With all the voice overs from Duterte about wanting to kill drug users and pushers and from various media reciting the body count one is left with the distinct impression that the man in this photo, Michael Siaron, is an EJK victim done in by the cops or The Group. The filmmaker never tells the audience that Michael was a drug pusher and that his killer was a man who worked for a drug syndicate named Nesty Santiago. Whether or not you buy the PNP's assertion of that the filmmaker should have included that information somewhere in the film.  Perhaps at the end where they include the following tidbits:

"Police collusion with extrajudicial killings was noted in Amnesty's 2017 report which cited senior police figures as the source."

As far as covering both sides of the conflict we never hear a single word from the police in their defence. We only hear from the journalists and the alleged assassins. At just past the thirty minute mark the film takes a surprising twist and leaves the Philippines altogether. We see Raffy Lerma as a guest on Democracy Now, a radio show out of NYC, and we see him at a bar speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok. The last 10 minutes of the film is basically Raffy Lerma the Crusading Journalist. His pictures will stop the killings.

At 30:25 the film shows us an art installation by Carlo Gabuco. On the wall are photographs of the dead. In the centre of the room is a blue chair.  You sit in the chair and listen to a girl all about the death of her father.  It is only then you realise the chair you are sitting in has a bullet hole and is the chair in which he was killed.

Curated by Erwin Romulo, with photography by Carlo Gabuco, music by Juan Miguel Sobrepeña, sound system design by Mark Laccay, and lighting design by Lyle Sacris, the chilling exhibit is set in a dimly lit room at the fair’s venue. The entire left side of the wall displays hundreds of Gabuco’s photos of various killings and the bloody aftermath of the president’s war on drugs. To recreate the feeling of stepping into a crime scene, Sacris hung up a few dangling lights that rotated and flickered, while Sobrepeña provided an eerie background noise to accompany the heart-wrenching scene in each of the photos and Laccay designed the sound system, which played Christine's voice recording.

https://www.townandcountry.ph/out-about/arts-culture/art-fair-philippines-2018-everyday-impunity-a00184-20180302

Exploitation or art?  You decide! It is certainly not nightcrawling.

The best parts of this entire film are the brief times we spend with The Group.  Who are these people? How did the filmmaker get access to them? Why did they give this access? Why isn't the film all about them? At one point we even get a first person perspective as they go on a mission to kill. The screen turns green as the night vision comes on.  The target is spotted. And then....I won't spoil it for you but this footage raises so many ethical and practical questions. Did the filmmaker supply them with a camera? Does The Group have their own cameras and do thy regularly film their work? Is it morally proper or even lawful for a documentarian to get an assassin squad to film their activities so he can use it in his documentary?

It is rather callous and hard-hearted to be making a documentary about the victims of the drug war and to film their alleged assassins prepping like beauty queens getting ready for a pageant. Other words spring to mind like disingenuous, exploitative, cynical. It is rather unbelievable that these men actually are a group of assassins one of whom claims to be working as a tour guide during the day. Take the testimony of "Blix."

Starting at 23:09 we here the following from "Blix" who is a member of The Group.

In the beginning it was still good. We took down many wanted people but there was one time the police covered up for us. We hit the wrong guy. It was a mistake. We planted drugs and guns on the victim so our group wouldn't be blamed. It was the police who created our group. They co-ordinate our operations. 

He then shows a video on his phone and says:

These are members of my group. They've been arrested on TV but it's just for the cameras. These guys are all back with us now. They're free. They were all set free. Those police operations - don't believe them. The news - it's all lies. 

The video "Blix" shows us is from CNN.  Here is what see in the film.

Blurring out the face of PNP Chief Bato is a rather strange editorial choice. I gather the CNN logo was blurred so CNN does not come around asking for money to use their video. Here is the original.

"Blix's" story is easily verifiable. All one has to do is check the jail records to find out whether or not Manuel Murillo, Marco Morallos, and Alfredo Alejan were released. The group these men claimed to be part of is the CSG or Confederate Sentinels Group. That would mean "Blix" is also a part of the CSG and that the PNP created the CSG. If I had the resources I would certainly check out his story. Did the filmmaker do that? I certainly challenge any journalist or anyone with the proper access who has watched this film or read this review to verify what Blix has told us. The truth or falsity of his story makes or breaks the conceit of this film which is that the PNP is behind all the killings. At least all the killings The Group claims to have committed.

Overall this film is a real disappointment. I was expecting an hour or so of gritty Manila nighttime shots with photojournalists crawling from crime scene to crime scene documenting the dead. What I got was Raffy Lerma boasting that he can change the world with his photographs and a lot of other pointless fluff. There is even a bit about press freedom. Why? In a movie that is supposed to be "an unflinching exposé of Philippines President Duterte’s war on drugs" it is completely out of place and that juxtaposition is the problem with the documentary as a whole. This film lacks focus. In contrast On the President's Orders found a subject and stuck with it. The filmmaker, Alexander Mora, was in the country for months documenting and it is difficult to believe this is the best of his hundreds of hours of footage. Perhaps the blame lies on the producer Joanna Natasegara.

A lot more could be said but I will end with one last thing. The film is available to stream on the National Geographic website but only if you live in the USA.

While I torrented my copy from the usual place not everyone knows how to do that. What is the point of this film and its accompanying discussion guide if Filipinos cannot watch it? On the Take Action page Rappler is listed as a resource to get information about the Philippines' war on drugs but Rappler would be insignificant to anyone outside the country. The film is clearly intended to be a rallying call that inspires people to take action so it seems rather odd to not make the film available in the Philippines.