The Philippines ambassador to Qatar, Crescente Relacion, has dismissed reports that his government has recalled all the diplomats assigned to various Middle East countries concerning the sexual abuse allegations raised by Congressman Walden Bello recently.
“The report was misleading and not factual. We were asked to attend a consultation in Manila tomorrow and I will be back in Qatar on the same day,” said Relacion who was on his way to the Doha International Airport when contacted by Gulf Times yesterday around 6pm.
The report said: “The Philippine government has ordered several ambassadors and a consul general based in the Middle East to return to Manila amid allegations of sexual abuse committed by labour and diplomatic officials against Filipina migrant workers.”
All the 11 ambassadors are expected to arrive today in Manila for an emergency meeting. These included envoys from Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, Syria, and Kuwait.
Relacion said that some officials may have been implicated of the sexual exploitation issues but “it is not true that Middle East ambassadors were recalled.”
Labour attaché to Jordan Mario Antonio, Kuwait-based welfare officer Blas Marquez and a certain “Kim” from Syria have allegedly been accused of sexually exploiting Filipina migrant workers, according to a Manila Times report.
It said that the three were reportedly offering plane tickets to distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in exchange for sexual favours.
Foreign affairs secretary Albert Del Rosario has earlier recalled charge d’affaires Nestor Padalhan in Syria, ambassador Olivia Palala in Jordan and charge d’affaires Raul Dado in Kuwait.
The report added that labour secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has already set up a probe panel but their office has yet to receive any formal complaints. She also appealed to other government agencies like the department of foreign affairs, Bello’s office and Senator Jinggoy Estrada to co-ordinate with the labour department.
Del Rosario has earlier said that he will be meeting the 11 ambassadors this weekend, requesting them to help in the probe.
Meanwhile, labour attaché Leopoldo DeJesus said that in Qatar only women officials are handling the cases of distressed OFWs.
DeJesus noted that plane tickets may not be a big issue since they often receive donations from individuals and organisations who are always willing to help. “But even if you offer a plane ticket you cannot assure them that they’ll be sent back home because it is the ministry of interior which decides on repatriation cases, not us,” he said. “There are no shortcuts; they all go through a process.”
DeJesus appealed to all OFWs in Qatar to co-operate and immediately inform Philippine embassy officials if there are any sex abuse cases that they know.