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Saturday, November 6, 2010

Monkey Business By Government Officials?

We think it would not be possible for any Guansing to do any foolishness inside Philippine consulate premises?

Think again...

Something to read below please... Tnx!

:)
Lazir

________________________________
From: "Dcgrava@
To: NaFFAA_fora
Cc: owwa_opcen...@yahoo.com;
Sent: Wed, November 3, 2010 5:36:59 AM
Subject: [NaFFAA_forum] FORWARDED RESPONSE (NEW) FROM
LABATT PADILLA...

Thanks for this very laudable advocacy on behalf of our less advantaged countrymen/women, Dr. Calderon.

I take note that Mr. Duero's superiors just can't wait to get rid of a whistle blower in their midst. After all it was OWWA Welfare Officer Alberto Adonis Duero who reportedly leaked the report about the Filipino victims coming to the LA consulate asking for help after escaping from their Mississippi recruiters -- otherwise we would have no inkling about their sad plight. A Filipino journalist, Pex Aves, complained of being humiliated and treated with disrespect by a vice consul when he went to the consulate to follow-up on the victims' case. Until now the consulate is mum about their case and it is only now, 5 weeks later and after much 'noise' in online discussion boards, that the consulate reportedly gave the victims money for groceries. It was Duero who wrote to his superior, Sec. Rosalinda Dimapilis Baldoz of Dept. of Labor and Employment, requesting "for an immediate investigation of the illegal recruitment activities by several agencies and individuals in the Philippines and to revisit the direct hire policy of POEA," which Mr. Duero blames as "the root cause of all these problems pertaining to illegal recruitment and alleged human trafficking of Filipino workers." And finally Duero requested from OWWA for a budget to cover the food and accommodation requirements of the victims while their case and immigration status are being pursued by authorities, which the labor attache, Minda Padilla, may have negated with the response: "I just thought that perhaps OWWA need not spend that much if the victims were in Mississippi or if they are repatriated back to the Philippines." Imagine that?

It was from Mississippi recruiters that these victims escaped from before
landing in LA. If they felt safe in Mississippi would they have risked coming to LA considering that they don't know anyone here in addition to the fact that funds were scarce? We have a consulate general and other government agencies in LA, why do they need to go elsewhere to be taken cared of? I recall that a consulate in the Middle East reportedly was able to take care of a much greater number of depressed Filipinos running from employers. Even the Los Angeles consulate under a previous consul general was able to rally the Filipino community to get involved and support a greater number of stranded seamen in the past. With all due respect I suggest that our present consul general should prioritize her time and resources and minimize too much 'sosyalan'. And recommending a return of the victims to the Philippines is a certain prescription to whitewash the whole issue. Or are they going to make us believe that there has been an abrupt change to the very corrupt Philippine justice system lately?

And now this lame excuse that "the removal of Mr. Duero's office table, office signage, etc., may be due to the fact that his tour of duty is ending." Why not wait until his tour of duty ends. Besides, there had been instances in the past when some officials' tour of duty had been extended. Isn't it obvious that they're harassing Mr. Duero because he is the only government official who keeps faith with his sworn duty and is actively doing something to mitigate the victims' welfare and proposing a logical solution to these illegal recruitment and human trafficking of Filipino workers? All these shamelessness on the part of Duero's superiors further convinced me that there is truth to stories that some higher ups at the POEA, DFA, DOLE and OWWA are involved in the multi-million illegal recruitment syndicate back home.

In a message dated 11/2/2010 9:27:33 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,

placido0
From: center owwa ...@yahoo.com>

To: Placido Calderon
Sent: Tue, November 2, 2010 7:44:42 PM
Subject: Re: [NaFFAA_forum] FORWARDED RESPONSE (NEW) FROM LABATT PADILLA
Re: Update on the victims of illegal recruitment

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your information. We shall relay this to the Administrator.

On the other hand, re the removal of Mr. Duero's office table, office signage, etc., may be due to the fact that his tour of duty is ending. His tour of duty is only for two years, based on the deployment assignment given to him when he left for Washington two years ago.

OWWA recognizes the support of Filipino communities overseas, without which, our small contingent will not be able to function effectively.

- - - - - - - -

To owwa_opcen...@yahoo.com:

I was reading your response very past as that time was already past bedtime to me and my mind may be very tired. But I notice that you mentionedLabatt Salud. Who is Labatt Salud?

If I am reading the whole e-mail correctly that is the name of two people which you may have mistakenly combined. They areLabatt Padilla of the Filipino traffic employment victims' case in the USA and then Mr. Romulo Salud, the Filipino Labour Attache from Hongkong who treated Ms Tenorio with utter disrespect. Is my guess right about Messrs Labatt Padilla and Romulo Salud's identities?

Eddie AAA Calderon
Mpls, Mn USA

Thanks for the quick response. Ms Embryo also told me in an email who Mr. Duero was. I am then looking forward to the case of Ms. Agnes Tenorio, a former OFW worker in Hongkong. I am also interested n the case that Ms. Embryo brought to the e-mail fore.

Eddie

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