Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Volume 3,  Number 40              November 9 - 15, 2003            Quezon City, Philippines


 





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Bayan urges VFA review, U.S. troops’ probe

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance) urged the Senate Nov. 3 to investigate Visiting Forces Agreement Commission (VFACom) findings on the “one-sidedness of the existing RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement” and the alleged U.S. troops’ violation of provisions of the Agreement.

Bayan secretary general Teddy Casiño said that no U.S. soldier has been arrested or prosecuted despite “reports of abuses and misconduct made by U.S. troops in the past.”

“This underscores how unequal the VFA is,” Casiño said. “The Philippine government virtually surrenders its criminal jurisdiction over violations of Philippine laws.”

Casiño likewise called for an inquiry on the “sacking” of VFACom head lawyer Amado Valdez. Valdez, a private prosecutor in the 2001 impeachment of President Estrada, recently got the ire of Foreign Secretary Blas Ople over the reported incident of drunken U.S. soldiers at their post in Zamboanga, southern Philippines.

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OFWs’ “passport to slavery”

Migrante last week cited reports by the press in Dubai, United Arab Emirates about the illegal practice of employers confiscating the passports of their workers. The Arab employers say this practice prevents would-be criminals among their workers from fleeing the country.

Migrante spokesperson John Monterona said however that there is no proof that this practice prevents any illegal activity. For overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East, he said, the gravest problem is employers who refuse them their right to keep their papers such as contracts and passports.

“It’s funny how employers use the excuse that their workers could be criminals, when it is often the employers who are the criminals,” said Monterona.

A passport is a personal document which confirms the identity of its bearer. Therefore, it must be held by the bearer at all times to present to authorities upon request. Nevertheless, this right is not widely honored in the Middle East, Monterona said.

“Employers hold their workers passports to keep them subservient and weak,” said Monterona

“The majority of cases we receive are from OFWs with contract violations and unpaid wages. Then there are also those who have been abused physically and sexually. Because these OFWs cannot access their passports, they become slaves to be exploited and molested,”  Monterona added.

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Bayan scores Filipino troops deployment in Liberia, Iraq

“The Philippines is trying too hard to become America’s sidekick in policing the world,” Bayan spokesperson Renato M. Reyes, Jr. said last week on the deployment of 145 Filipino ‘peacekeepers’ to Liberia.

Reyes said this move was against the national interest of a country low in resources and yet these “incursions disguised as peacekeeping missions only tend to serve the political and military interests of the US.”

To the contrary, the Bayan spokesperson said, Filipinos are actually involved in combats, far from the “peacekeeping” roles tagged on them.

“We should not wait for Filipino troops to start dying in Iraq and Liberia,” Reyes said. “We should send our troops home…(and) not get involved in dirty wars that only the U.S. stands to benefit from.” 

Bulatlat.com

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