Lawmaker bares alleged 'sexploitation' of distressed OFWs by PHL officials

(Updated 7:15 p.m.) Three Philippine embassy and labor officials in the Middle East have been accused of sexually abusing female overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

At a press briefing Tuesday, Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello identified two of the officials, but GMA News Online is witholding their names until they have issued their respective comments.

Bello, chairman of the House committee on overseas workers' affairs, said the two were from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Jordan and Kuwait.

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

These alleged cases of exploitation were uncovered when Bello's committee investigated the reported "sex-for-flight" activities where overseas Pinays were allegedly offered repatriation by officials in exchange for sex.

Bello said his office is still investigating the reported "sex-for-flight" transactions. He described the cases of sexual exploitation they discovered as "equally, if not as horrible, as 'sex-for-flight."

The lawmaker described the three as Predator One, Two and Three.

DFA "disturbed" by reports

In a text message to GMA News Online, DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the DFA is "disturbed" by the allegations.

He said DFA secretary Albert del Rosario already talked to Bello about the reports and that they will meet again Wednesday.

"Our core interest is to protect our OFWs in every instance. We are disturbed by the news reports that we are receiving regarding the sex-related offenses allegedly committed by embassy personnel," Hernandez said.

"Sec. del Rosario talked to Cong. Bello this afternoon and will meet with him tomorrow in order to complete the information that we have and establish a way forward in terms of investigation our people," he added.

Predator One

Bello said his source gave Predator One the nickname "Kim," allegedly a member of the Augmentation Team of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Syria. He said the official was caught last January 1 "in an intimate act with a female OFW" at the Embassy's shelter for distressed workers.

Apparently, "Kim" had been involved in at least four "intimate relationships" with distressed OFWs. However, he was only made to attend gender sensitivity seminars despite his record of "exploiting vulnerable wards."

"We cannot understand the reason for such kid's glove treatment of an individual who has a record of sexually exploiting OFWs," Bello said.

Predator Two

In the committee's investigation, Predator Two of the POLO in Jordan was accused of letting Filipinas at the OFW shelter, the Filipino Workers Resource Center, "out at night to service the sexual needs of wealthy Palestinian men in Amman."

According to witnesses, Predator Two charges as much as $1,000 a night for services, "in effect running a prostitution ring."

Bello said the Embassy in Jordan cannot act because Predator Two "has not been caught in the act." He allegedly has also been accused of operating a prostitution ring when he was posted in Beirut, Lebanon and Tokyo, Japan.

"Our DOLE officials in Manila know of the accusations against this man, yet they pretend to hear nothing and refuse to recall him," Bello said.

Predator Three

Meanwhile, Predator Three in Kuwait has apparently been "long involved in 'sex-for-hire' in the Filipino Workers' Resource Center" there.

"There have been many complaints against him but he eluded the dragnet because he is a townmate of now disgraced Ambassador Shulan Primavera," Bello said, citing a confidential report by a high-ranking official who conducted interviews with DFA and POLO staff in Kuwait.

"Apparently, POLO officials have to condone (Predator Three) because he might spill the beans as he knows many unlawful incidents in POLO," the report continued.

Bello said Predator Three has "become a source of great embarrassment, resentment, and demoralization" among the Filipino staff in Kuwait.

"We ask: why, with all the evidence of his using OFWs as prostitutes and his cheating them, is this sexual predator allowed to remain in his post," Bello said.

"How does a mere local hire hold a whole Embassy to his nefarious activities?" he continued.

Bello requested Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz for the dismissal of the three men from government service and for their criminal prosecution.

"We must do this because this is what justice demands. We must do this to restore the faith of our OFWs in our government's ability to protect them," he said. — VVP/KBK, GMA News