The Manila Times


A 6


news MONDAY D e cember 13, 2010


police force is still lacking firearms needed in the conduct of law enforcement operations throughout the country.


Bacalzo revealed that 30 percent of the police force is not issued with the


IAEA willing to assist in nuclear power operation


THE International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has expressed will- ingness to assist the Philippines in the event that the country decides to use nuclear power, the Depart- ment of Foreign Affairs said over the weekend.


A statement from the Foreign Af- fairs department on Saturday said that IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano was in the country from December 8 to 11, where he met senior officials from Philippine government agencies involved in the implementation of technical cooperation projects in various nuclear applications.


Amano visited the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), the department said, noting that the Philippines benefits from the activi- ties undertaken by the IAEA under its safety and security pillar, “particularly


■ REGISTRATION FROM A1 Govt seeks mandatory SIM


in the bill. As of November this year, Cordoba


said that phone theft complaints have reached 10,000. Besides phone theft, text scams and


spam, the registration of SIM cards would also be able to address terrorism, and other illegal criminal activities such as kidnap for ransom, he added. Countries that already implement SIM


card registration are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Brunei. In January this year, the commis- sion issued a draft circular titled “Mandatory Registration of Subscriber Identity Module Cards,” but it failed to push through because of the opposition of several consumer groups over privacy issues.


Consumer groups also raised the issue on the entities that would likely safeguard the database of SIM card registrations. Under the proposed circular, vendors


of telecommunication companies are mandated to register the identity of the buyer of a new SIM card by requiring them to present valid identification cards (IDs) set by the regulator. The proposal also aims to gradually


register existing SIM cards. Pending at the legislature are House Bills 92 and 1313, which seek to regulate the sale of prepaid SIM cards by requiring buyers to be properly identified and their addresses verified through the presentation of valid IDs.


in the review and assessment of the possible rehabilitation of the plant.” “The Agency can also assist the Philippines if and when the gov- ernment decides to include nu- clear power generation in its present energy mix,” said the For- eign Affairs department.


The IAEA is an international or- ganization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military pur- pose, including nuclear weapons. The BNPP was constructed dur- ing the administration of former strongman Ferdinand Marcos but was mothballed after Corazon Aquino become president from a peaceful uprising in 1986. But the government was still required to pay the amortizations for the building of the nuclear plant in Bataan.


XINHUA


Police chief admits shortage of firearms P


HILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Raul Bacalzo, has admitted that the 132,000-strong


standard short firearm or sidearm. Bacalzo, moreover, lamented that


50 percent of the police force do not have M16 rifles. He acknowledged that policemen, especially in areas where there are rebels and organized crime groups, need these long firearms. Ideally, a police officer in the Phil- ippines should have both the short and long firearms for law enforce- ment operations and implementa- tion of security measures, according to police experts.


To address the issue, Bacalzo said that the PNP is authorizing the po- lice to use their personal firearms as long as these are registered. “We allow them to use their per- sonal firearms as long as they are li- censed. This is what we are doing in the PNP to solve the problem,” he said. He noted that with the strategy they are adopting, all policemen and policewomen would be armed.


“We have 50 percent to fill up on long firearms and we have 30 per- cent to fill up on short firearms. What we do is that we take these fire- arms collectively on a one-on-one basis,” said Bacalzo.


“Meaning, we are trying our best to issue one firearm, either long or short, depending on your assign- ment to each policemen so that each policeman, 132,000 of them, will


Couple gets jail terms for duping Pinoys in US


MIAMI: A Florida couple was sen- tenced to jail for conspiring to ex- ploit 39 Filipino guest workers in forced labor at hotels and country clubs in South Florida, according to the US Attorney’s Office. Sophia Manuel, 41, and Alfonso Baldonado Jr., 46, were sentenced to six years and half and four years and three months in federal prison on Friday (Saturday in Manila) by a West Palm Beach, Florida federal court on charges of visa fraud and submitting false written statements to the government. West Palm Beach is located some


70 miles from Miami, a popular glo- bal tourist destination.


Prosecutors said that Manuel and Baldonado, who owned and operated Quality Staffing Services Corp., conspired to obtain cheap workers under the US H2B work- ers’ visa by making false promises to exploit the victims. Court documents showed that the couple enticed the workers into paying $5,000 each in placement fees in exchange for phantom well- paying jobs in hotels and tourist fa- cilities in Florida.


Philippine Honorary Consul Gen- eral Angelo Macatangay said that most of the victims wept and hugged each other after the ruling was read.


“Justice has been served, and we thank the US authorities who inves- tigated and prosecuted this case,” Macatangay said in an interview. Macatangay—a retired surgeon from Staten Island, New York City who has devoted his time and re- sources serving ethnic Filipinos in Florida—said that the workers, who have been allowed to stay in the US on temporary visas now stand a good chance in getting a “T” visa for vic- tims of human trafficking. Macatangay and his wife, Marilou, were invited by the work- ers who organized an impromptu thanksgiving celebration in honor of the people who have helped them, many of whom have opted to remain anonymous.


The honorary consul said that it


was Marilou who painstakingly helped document the workers com- plaint and coordinated with federal authorities such as the Depart- ments of Homeland Security, Jus- tice and Labor. The Macatangays are the parents of pretty Filipino-American actress Amanda Page, a Famas best actress awardee, the Philippine equivalent of the US Academy Award or Oscar. Macatangay also paid tribute to


Jofer Trinos, the workers’ spokesman, who patiently and courageously led


his fellow workers in seeking redress for their grievances. Trinos, one of six workers who


were allowed to speak during the sentencing, thanked the authorities for taking up their case and spoke briefly of their ordeal in brief, emo- tional remarks. Trinos said that the defendants de-


served the maximum prison sentence because of what they have done to them, and many others, who he said, have not yet stepped forward to pur- sue their complaints.


Threatened, maltreated Court documents showed that Ma-


nuel and Baldonado compelled the victims to work “with little or no pay” in different area hotels and country clubs. “After the victims arrived at the de- fendants’ residence in Boca Raton, Florida, the defendants confiscated their passports [and] housed them in overcrowded, substandard conditions without adequate food or drinking water,” the documents stated. The workers were ordered not to


leave the premises without permis- sion and an escort, and were threat- ened that they could arrested and de- ported for complaining about their working terms and conditions. “They came here seeking a better


life, but found their dream of freedom and a better life transformed into a real-life nightmare of servitude and fear,” said Wilfredo Ferrer, US lawyer for the Southern District of Florida. Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said that the victims were coerced and threatened with being arrested and deported if they complained of their plight.


“These defendants victimized vulnerable individuals for profit,” Perez said. “Forced labor robs vic- tims of their freedom and their dig- nity, and it will not be tolerated in this country.” This case was investigated by the US Immigration and Customs and Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations; the US Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Racket- eering and Fraud Investigations; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the US Department of State-Bureau of Diplomatic Security; the Florida Department of Law Enforcement; and the Florida Office of the Attor- ney General. The case was prosecuted by trial


lawyer Susan French of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit and Assistant US lawyer Shaniek Maynard.


JUN MEDINA ■ BOYCOTT FROM A1 Sunday Fun


Families enjoy themselves inside a


children’s park in Rizal Park


on Sunday. PHOTO BY RENE DILAN


RESPECT PRESIDENT’S


was saving Filipino lives in China and the Philippine gov- ernment stayed away from the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese democracy activist. The five Filipinos on death row in China still have no reprieve. The President said that he had already sent a letter to the Chinese government seeking clemency for the con- demned Filipinos.


Chinese embassy spokesman Sun Yi confirmed Sun-


day that Mr. Aquino has written an appeal to Beijing over the Filipino death row inmates, but denied that the is- sue was linked to Manila’s decision to skip the Nobel awards ceremony. Senator Arroyo said that the boycott of the Nobel Peace


‘Back-channel’ talks on PAL strike


THE Department of Transportation and Com- munications (DOTC) over the weekend an- nounced that they are now conducting back- channel efforts to avoid the looming strike of employees of flag-carrier Philippine Airlines. DOTC spokesman Dante Velasco revealed in an interview aired over dzBB radio that they are conducting the efforts to stop the strike especially this holiday season for the sake of the passengers. “We are continuing our back-channel ef-


forts. We remain hopeful no strike will hap- pen,” he said. Velasco, however, declined to give details on the back-channel efforts, but noted that Malacañang already offered to broker mediation talks on the matter. He added that government is confident PAL can execute its contingency measures if the strike pushes through. “PAL has said it is ready to undertake contin- gency measures,” Velasco said. Earlier, the PAL Employees Association (Palea) disclosed that 86 percent of its members who took part in a strike vote early last week were in favor of a strike to protest what the union called management’s unfair labor practices. “The 86 percent vote is overwhelming given


that we had just 24 hours to inform members of the holding of the strike ballot,” Palea President Gerry Rivera said.


He added that the union’s membership of 2,600 participated in the strike vote. But Rivera appealed to the public for un- derstanding. “We understand that a strike at Philippine Airlines may inconvenience the public. But we also believe that the vast majority of the public are workers and their families who will benefit from Palea’s fight for job security and labor rights,” he added. While PAL management reassured its passen-


■ CONGRESS FROM A1 Budget approval


the 21st century. “At this new stage, Comste needs people who can articu- late plans for the country in


terms of the strategic priorities it has identified,” he stressed. The identified strategic pri- orities, according to Angara,


gers that PAL flights remain normal, it criticized Palea for raising fears about the strike. “Pronouncements made by the Palea that they will stage a strike during the holidays reveal their intention to sow panic and anxiety to thousands of PAL passengers who have firmed up travel plans to spend Christmas with their loved ones,” the airlines said in a press release on its website.


No effect on flights PAL’s Friday press release also said that employ-


ees who participated in the Palea strike vote are “ground workers mostly assigned at the ground- handling, catering and call center offices.” “While their jobs are important, these work-


ers play support to flight operations. They are not directly engaged in flying or maintaining the air- craft. The pilots, cabin crew and mechanics/main- tenance workers are not part of the planned work stoppage,” PAL added.


The airline said that its labor case with Palea is being reviewed by Malacañang. PAL added that they hope the union will heed Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.’s appeal to exercise restraint by deferring any mass action at this time, and allow the Palace to decide on the case. PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna voiced high hopes for mediation talks to be brokered by Malacañang on the issue. She said they are buoyed by the openness of


Palea take part in the mediation talks. “Kami ay naniniwala na magkakaroon ng kalutasan [We believe that there will be a solu- tion]. We are hoping and praying this concilia- tion meeting brokered by Malacañang will com- mence anytime soon,” she said in an interview on dwIZ radio.


Villaluna added that despite the Palea’s recent


strike vote, PAL employees had been “profes- sional enough” to continue reporting for work. FRANCIS EARL A. CUETO


are: Telemedicine; Remote- sensing for Agriculture; and E-Vehicles and Green Trans- port Solutions. He also cited the need to attract the best technologies and collabora- tive efforts in electronics and semiconductors, renewable energy, and disaster science.


Prize awarding did not necessarily mean that the Presi- dent tolerates human rights violations, citing Mr. Aquino’s decision to free the “Morong 43,” was “a very good move.” Asked about alleged US pressure on the Philippines be- cause of the boycott, Senator Arroyo said that the US has no sterling record on the observance of human rights out- side continental America. “For the US, violation of human rights is OK as long as it is done in foreign countries like in Cuba, at the Guantanamo Bay, and in Iraq. Egypt and Afghanistan re- ceive billions of dollars in aid from the US even if the violation of human rights there was appalling,” he added. The five Filipinos were sentenced to death even before the start of the Aquino administration. Sen. Vicente Sotto 3rd, who was then chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board, said that all that the Philippines could do was make sure due process was accorded to them.


Sotto said that Filipinos acting as “mules” for the smug- gling of illegal drugs into other countries should not ex- pect any help from the Philippine government once they are arrested. He said that drug mules are ruining the im- age of Filipinos.


He has filed a bill seeking the reimposition of death penalty on those convicted of drug trafficking. “Drug enforcers believe that the abolition of the death penalty has made drug traffickers bolder,” Sotto added.


Obey foreign rules Vice President and presidential adviser on Overseas Fili-


pino Workers’ (OFWs) concerns Jejomar Binay on Sun- day reminded Filipinos in China to follow the rules of the Philippine and the host governments to avoid getting into trouble. Binay noted that OFWs in China face issues of over-


staying, illegal recruitment and drug trafficking. “Hinihimok ko po kayo na sundin natin ang regulasyon ng bansang ito . . . Hangad ko ang inyong suporta at kooperasyon na mapaalalahanan ang ating mga kababayan nang sa gayon ay maiwasan ang mga ganitong problema [I am urging all of you to follow the law in China . . . I wish for your support and cooperation to remind our countrymen on this so we could avoid getting into trouble],” Binay said in a speech before the Filipino community in Guangzhou, China. In a letter to Binay, Consul General Joselito Jimeno said that the issue of overstaying nationals in China is connected to illegal recruitment. But the victims, who later discover that their visas were not processed and thus obtain illegal status, preferred to stay and find employment. Meanwhile, Filipino drug mules in China were just des- perate to earn money, Binay said. He reminded Filipinos that smuggling 50 grams of heroin is punishable by death in China. But Binay assured that government agencies such as the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Overseas Employ- ment Administration and the Overseas Workers Welfare Ad- ministration are working on a comprehensive response to address the concerns of Filipinos in China. He added that President Aquino has approved a P1-billion loan fund for OFWs so they could set up employment and business opportunities when they return to the Philippines.


ideally have one issued firearm ei- ther short or long . . . So we have almost 100 percent on one-on-one basis,” he added.


PNP elite forces and those en- gaged in the fight against rebels and organized crime groups are prio- ritized when it comes to the issuance of long firearms, while those in po- lice stations normally get the short firearms.


XINHUA


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