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| Report from Riyadh: Filipino Men Are Being Raped |
Filipinos, especially good-looking males, working in the Middle East need more than just sympathy. Because reports of a man raping another man in the Middle East are getting more frequent. This is something folks back home will be surprised to hear. Yes it’s weird, but it’s true; some men do rape other men in some parts of the world
Dito sa Saudi Arabia, kapag wala kang bigote ang tingin sa iyo ng mga Arabo ay para kang isang babae. Ngayon kung medyo mistisohin ka pa, maganda ang katawan, matabok ang puwit, at laging bagong paligo at mabango, asahan mong pagtritripan ka nila dahil sa kanilang paningin isa kang sexy star.
Si Ed ay cashier noong araw sa Al Kharj branch ng aming company. Tuwing umaga trabaho niya ang ideposito ang collections of the previous day sa downtown. Dahil may kalayuan din ang aming office sa downtown kung Saan naroroon ang mga banko, kinakailangan niyang bumiyahe sakay ng taxi. Isang umaga, Yemeni ang driver ng nasakyan niyang taxi pabalik sa opisina. Dahil seguro guwapo at malinis sa katawan si Ed, pinagtripan daw siya ng driver. Hindi naman siya ginalaw. Inilabas lang naman nong driver ang ari niya at nilarolaro habang nagdradrive. Takot na takot si Ed ng dumating sa opisina. Sabi namin na pasalamat siya at hindi siya dinala sa disyerto. May mga storya kasi na sa disyerto daw kadalasan dinadala ng mga rapist ang kanilang biktima. At doon na nila iiwan pagkatapos abusuhin. Mula noon hindi na bumibiyahe si Ed ng mag-isa.
Reynaldo Cortez, a welder in one of the car-care shops at Sinaya in Riyadh, was not as lucky. When a Pakistani driver tried to molest him sometime in 2003, he fought back, and in the process of defending himself stabbed to death his would-be rapist.
For the offense, he was sentenced to 15-year imprisonment. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to 10 years in October 2004. However in 2005, the High Court in Riyadh that gave the final verdict sentenced him to death. After that, the only way Cortez could be saved was through the grant of forgiveness from the family of his victim.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials said they did their best to save Cortez. They said they negotiated with the family of the Pakistani driver and offered SR 100,000 blood money so that Cortez may be forgiven. They said they even hired the services of a Pakistani professional negotiator. But all those effort failed. All that the family of the victim wanted was to see the execution go through.
Last Wednesday, as we continue to celebrate our Independence Day as well as the Migrants’ Month, we were greeted with the sad news that the death sentence of Reynaldo Cortez was finally executed. In minutes, the world joined the Filipinos in the Kingdom in mourning. Another comrade has fallen.
Back in the Philippines, the sadness among the bereaved family and relatives of Cortez was aggravated by the news that the fallen hero’s body cannot be brought home, because it has to be buried before sunset on the day of the execution. The immediate burial was in accordance with traditions of Islam, which Cortez embraced during his stay in the Kingdom.
For not being able to bring Cortez’ body home, the Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia said in a phone patch interview that, "we can only sympathize with the family of Cortez."
Had the family of the Pakistani driver accepted the SR100,000 blood money offered by the DFA, Cortez would still be alive and free today. He would have flown back home to be with his family, and never to leave them anymore.
But the offer was rejected, and Cortez had to die. Instead of just paying the usual lip service and saying, "We sympathize with the family," I think it will be more appropriate and better appreciated if the DFA gives the SR100,000, which was rejected by the family of the Pakistani driver, to the wife and six children that Reynaldo Cortez, our fallen hero, left behind.
I call on the various Overseas-Filipino organizations in the Kingdom, and around the world, to officially ask the Philippine President to approve the release of the funds required. After all, the amount is just a small fraction of what was spent for Dematera.
I think there is also a need to revisit the provisions of sections 24 to 26 of R.A. 8042, with the objective of assessing the effectiveness so far of the Legal Assistant for Migrants Workers Affairs' Office as well as the status of Legal Assistance Fund.
There is also a need to set up a Fund for blood money, so that the Post and the community need not beg around whenever the need arises. A certain percentage of the government’s savings from debt servicing, brought about by our dollar remittances, should be allocated for this purpose.
Reynaldo Cortez will not be the last to need help. In Saudi Arabia alone there are already three waiting in death row. The time for the Philippine government to act is now. ###
DindoP
ROGELIO BANTILES wrote:
Dear Prof. Francis and All,
It is my feeling that the write-up with the recommendations is sufficient for the concerned Philippine government officials to start from and act on. Hence I think -- in fact I suggest -- that groups and individuals should already endorse this write-up and the recommendations therein by letters and emails to the Office of the President, Senate, House of Representatives, DFA, DOLE, OWWA, Commission on Overseas Filipinos, POEA, etc.
People may ask: will this be effective, will this elicit action from the Philippine government?
Yes, I think so. A most recent example is JPEPA (Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement). Written petitions clearly defined the issues and underlined the determination of groups to have it re-studied, even rejected. The smiling and/or dour physical presence of parties concerned about JPEPA in Senate hearings and fora persuaded the Senators to postpone and pass on the deliberation and ratification of the treaty to the incoming Senate.
The magic formula on JPEPA? Clear position, physical presence and political pressure. It was effective kahit walang street action, or at least one I am aware of solely carrying JPEPA. Puro fora, symposia, radio and TV talk shows, press releases, petition signing. In other words, the staid type of generating political pressure: may pagka-showbiz pa nga.
What do we have now? A position paper, a definite basis for applying political pressure. A position paper is better than nothing. Pero saan na ba ang mga OFs and OFWs and their relatives? Can't each of us give at least two hours of our time to read the write-up, reflect about it, and endorse it by email or by post to the concerned offices and officials?
Kawawa talaga tayong mga Pinoy, ano? Sometimes in moments of solitude, I tend to reflect that this beheading of Reynaldo Cortez is symbolic of the intellectual, moral, economic and political decapitation of the vast majority of our people and of our OFWs. The regard by foreign governments for our OFs and OFWs corresponds with and may even be intensified by the foreign governments' perception of the regard and love that our government has for our citizens. How do foreign governments look at our workers who have to seek overseas employment because, despite our vast natural resources, we cannot provide for the basic needs of our citizens?
The beheading of Reynaldo Cortez is symbolic of the challenge facing all Filipinos. The vast majority of our people are decapitated politically, economically, socially. If the Filipinos' response will be to retake the reins of power and government and redevelop this country into a land of opportunity so that the Brains and Brawns we export now will instead be applied here, then Reynaldo Cortez has not died in vain.
I hope this will be the start of our thinking hard about how to bring back our OFs and OFWs. Why not also about how to send our Trapos to other countries as Supermaids and OFWs? Let the Trapos undergo the experience of jumping from windows and having broken bones, subsisting on leftovers, dog food and starvation diet, non-stop physical labor, mental, physical and psychological stress from masters/mistresses of households whose words are absolute and whose governments will back them to the hilt, homesickness, separation form loved ones, and being put on death row and being forgiven seconds before execution. Best regards.
Roger
In 2005, Melody said the DFA asked them to stop publicizing Rey’s case."Sinunod namin tapos ganyan lang pala mangyayari,” (We followed theiradvice and still nothing happened.) she said, adding that what she
really wanted was to ask media’s help to publicize her husband’s case and get attention and pressure from anyone and anywhere.
BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
MIGRANT WATCH
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 19, June 17-23, 2007
Reynaldo “Rey” Cortez’s life was not saved from Saudi’s death row. He was hanged on June 13. To add to the family’s woes, his body could not be repatriated so that the family could not pay their last respects after missing him for nine years. Even more heartbreaking, the miserable beheaded overseas Filipino worker (OFW) was reportedly buried “unofficial, secret and unmarked,” said a migrant leader.
Government neglect?
Is Rey another victim of government neglect?
Rey was able to make a phone call to his mother in Sorsogon, clueless that he would be beheaded that June 13.
A few weeks before Rey’s sudden beheading, he was texting his family and Migrante International expressing his worries. Rey was sentenced to death after killing a Pakistani driver who allegedly attempted to molest him in 2002.
On May 10 at 6:38 a.m., Connie Bragas-Regalado, Migrante International chairperson, received a text message from Rey which read, “Kapag di talaga inasikaso ng ating gobyerno ang kaso ko, talagang mapuputulan ako ng ulo. Kasi ayaw talaga ako patawarin ng pamilya.” (If the government does not follow-up my case, I would really be beheaded. The family of the Pakistani refuses to pardon me.) She texted Rey on June 1 but got no reply
Although prohibited, the migrant leader said detained OFWs smuggle in their cellular phones while in jail because that is the only way they could communicate with their loved ones in the Philippines.
Just this month, Rey texted his wife Melody relating the same concern.
"Nagtetext na s’ya sa ’kin na ilang araw o oras na lang baka pugutan na s’ya,” (He texted me that it may only be a matter of days or hours before he would be beheaded.) recalled Melody. On June 12, she asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for any development on her husband’s case. "Sabi nag-aantay din daw sila ng update mula Riyadh,” (They said they were also waiting for updates from Riyadh.) relayed the dismayed wife.
Melody told Bulatlat that DFA counsel Roel Garcia used to inform them about the results of the hearings on Rey’s case. But she lamented, "Kung ’di mo naman tatawagan ’di mo sila makakausap sa kaso n’ya.” (But if I don’t call them to follow-up, I won’t get any information regarding Rey’s case.)
When Rey was jailed in 2002, the couple was not able to communicate for a year. She said that Rey was forced to embrace Islam in the belief he might be spared from the death sentence. "Wala namang naitulong ’yun, napugutan pa rin sya,”(It didn’t help as he was beheaded anyway.) she said, adding that Rey sent them a copy of the Quran, holy book or bible in Islam, and other related reading materials in an effort to convince them to convert to Islam from being Jehovah’s Witnesses because he believed that it might have a bearing on his case.
In a dialogue with DFA officials twice this month, June 1 and 6,
Bragas-Regalado said, the agency’s officials seemed to be too careful not to offend the family of the Pakistani driver as they might not pardon Rey. But the DFA officials seemed not to consider how Rey’s family was feeling with the slow pace in the developments of the case.
In 2005, Melody said the DFA asked them to stop publicizing Rey’s case. "Sinunod namin tapos ganyan lang pala mangyayari,” (We followed their advice and still nothing happened.) she said, adding that what she really wanted was to ask media’s help to publicize her husband’s case and get attention and pressure from anyone and anywhere.
She added that she was given only P10,000 ($215.56 at an exchange rate of $1=P46.39) by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in 2005 and two months supply of rice.
Bragas-Regalado said that even in the reading of Rey’s sentence in 2005, there was no representative from the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia who attended.
And when Rey was beheaded on June 13, it was Jonathan Panlilio of Migrante International who first informed the family about it. Melody said the DFA confirmed the bad news 30 minutes after.
"Pa’no na po ngayon? Ano na po bang gagawin natin eh yung hinahabol nating buhay wala na?” (Whatr are we going to do now? Now that the life we are trying to save is gone.) the hysterical Melody asked the DFA personnel who called her. The DFA official, Melody said, hanged up the phone.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita admitted that even the government was “surprised” with the beheading.
Last request
The Cortez family’s concern did not end with Rey’s death, however.
Citing a report by United States-based Human Rights Watch,
Bragas-Regalado said, foreigners who are beheaded in Saudi Arabia are often buried in “unofficial, secret and unmarked” graves across the kingdom.
She added, “While the Philippine government failed Rey and his family once by not being able to avert his execution, President Macapagal-Arroyo should not fail the family’s last request for his body to be repatriated to the Philippines.”
“If the Arroyo administration allows this to happen to Rey, they will be complicit in intensifying the grief and heartache already suffered by Rey’s family, especially his six children,” said the migrant leader, adding that it would be difficult for the family to have a closure and start healing if Rey’s body is not repatriated.
In a radio interview, Ermita promised that the DFA would extend
assistance to “fast-track” the repatriation of Rey’s remains.
However, the DFA admitted that there is no chance to have Rey’s remains repatriated citing that under the Shari’a Law of Saudi Arabia, an executed person should be buried immediately before sunset.
More efforts needed
Rey is the fifth OFW executed abroad under the Arroyo administration. In March 2005, OFWs Sergio Aldana, Antonio Alvesa, Wilfredo Bautista and Miguel Fernandez were beheaded in Saudi Arabia.
These would just be recurring incidents, however, if the government would not take more aggressive efforts, said Bragas-Regalado.
“Dapat may leverage ang deploying country. Ang problema sa gobyerno after lang sa deployment at remittance,” (The deploying country should have some sort of leverage. The problem with our government is that it is only after the deployment and remittances of OFWs.) Bragas-Regalado
said. “If they are really sincere in the deployment of OFWs, they will not deploy migrant workers without their protection.”
Bragas-Regalado pointed out that there should be higher level of
negotiations in these cases and that the Philippine government should exhaust all venues such as diplomatic protests. To protect OFWs, Bragas-Regalado said, the Philippine government should review its foreign policies and that it should enter into bilateral agreements regarding the protection of OFWs with terms beneficial to both countries.
She also said that the government can even request the United Nations special rapporteur to investigate or even visit migrant workers in jail, especially in urgent cases when OFWs are sentenced to death.
More in death row
Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Esteban Conejos said that there were only 35 potential death penalty cases involving OFWs all over the world when he assumed office in January 2006.
He said that 11 of these cases were commuted from death to life imprisonment through constant monitoring and legal assistance provided by Philippine embassies abroad.
But Bragas-Regalado said that families and OFWs on death row complain that they are not being informed about the developments in their cases. In fact, they said, nobody visits them.
Among the OFWs in death row are Marilou Ranario and Rodelio Lanuza.
A Kuwaiti court sentenced Marilou Ranario, 34, to death by hanging on Sept. 25, 2005, for killing her Kuwaiti female employer in 2004. Her case is now under final appeal with Kuwait’s Cessation court.
Lanuza, on the other hand, was detained on Aug. 15, 2000 for killing a Saudi Arabian national. The Dammam Grand Court in Saudi sentenced him to death by beheading on June 10, 2002.
Meanwhile, Migrante International plans to set up a program for
counselling families of OFWs in distress. She said they also plan to include assisting children of executed migrant workers to acquire financial support for their schooling in their services and programs.
Copyright by Bulatlat
and the sad part is the victims are getting the raw end of the deal.... read all about it at Pedestrian Observer Blog a continuation of The Danger Men Face in Unlikely Situation.
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