And She Duly Lost Her Cause

"As long as there remain barbaric and sex maniac Arab employers, there will be no dearth of abused victims being raped and murdered."

Just like any domestic helper working  in the Middle East content with a dirt cheap salary, she did not wish to be rich, she just wanted to feed her loved ones, send her kids  to school and help her old parents.  Asria Samad Abdul  a typical housewife, frail and wrinkled by poverty, became a symbol of a failed struggle by hapless domestic helpers in their pursuit of a better life.. She hailed from Maguindanao, the third poorest province in the Philippines,  famous for its two group of people - the bestial and powerful billionaire Ampatuan clans and the poorest of the poor in the land.

In her struggle to escape untold of poverty, Asria Samad landed a job in Kuwait as a domestic helper. Not surprisingly, her employers maltreated her by starving and beating her - enough reason that she fled from them. The next phase of her precarious adventure would later prove to be her last gasp off the noose. The Kuwaiti couple who subsequently took her in had ferociously feasted on her on a daily basis by subjecting her to extreme physical abuse. The indescribable cruelties she suffered from their hands rendered her weaker each day that they decided to throw her in the desert. Asria was too weak but alive when the evil Kuwaiti couple run her over three times to make it appear that she was a victim of a hit and run. (So that proves that even the fiercest soul-less criminals can sometimes be the most stupid too.) Convinced that they got rid of her, they must be celebrating when police was able to track them down. Thursday, July 15 when the body of Asria was found near a horse stables in Kabad, a desert area. But the sleuths did not buy the idea that it was a case of hit and run when only her eyes were without  bruises.

In retrospect, a three-man team of solons led by Rep. Carlos Padilla went  to the Middle East in November last year on a fact-finding mission to see first hand the conditions of OFWs especially the domestic helpers. On their five-city tour that consisted of Riyadh, Jeddah, Amman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, they got to interview some runaway domestic helpers housed in those shelters and every one of them had a unanimous recommendation to the government, to put a stop to the deployment of domestic helpers in the Middle East. Each distressed runaway had the saddest story to tell them, that they came up with a strong consensus that it was about time the Philippine government  act on it.

The recommendation from the three solons would have gained ground, because there was no bilateral agreements that existed between Middle East countries and the Philippines, insofar as protection of migrant Filipino workers is concerned. Section 4 of the Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers Act of 1995 says, that there must have existing social and labor laws protecting the rights of migrant workers. Rep. Padilla would later hit the government on this, because it keeps on violating its own laws when it cannot ensure the protection of Filipino migrant workers yet aggressive in its  labor export policy.

Another compelling reason according to Padilla why the government has to put an end to the deployment of domestic helpers to the Middle East is, the cost of repatriation of distressed OFWs is too high that it could even cause bankruptcy to the OWWA. It is a fact then that the economy is not projected to suffer (or will not be affected at all) if the government pushes through with the complete ban.

So here we go. If the government is incapable of protecting its exported workers, why not stop exporting the most vulnerable? We know and the government knows that the DHs are the most susceptible to being trafficked, oppressed and abused by their employers. Not to mention those being raped and murdered by their sex maniac employers. I really wanted to hear success stories by our compatriots who worked as domestic helpers to give a bit of rationale (of continually exporting them),  but I could not find one. If there were few in the list, what was the ratio against those who were beaten, starved, raped and went home dead?

Media reports and Human Rights organizations certify that the Middle East is the most dangerous place for domestic helpers. Sans seers and oracles, countless cases of abuses and deaths don't see its end coming in the near future, because the trend is there to stay. So what else are we waiting for? It's a shame that the government has spent more time brainstorming ( as to the new title bestowed on our exported compatriots ) than deciding on their greater good. Hallelujah to them that sit on their thrones for protecting the dignity of our domestic helpers (by upgrading their title)!  Now we can legally and respectfully call them Household Service Workers or HSW and not DH anymore. But here in the Middle East? They will be eternally referred to as "Kadamat" or "Alila" or Servant.

It's still current in my memory how my older sister recounted to me the indignation she suffered at the hands of her recruiter from Bacolod City.  She was offered initially to work in the palace (kuno) for the Sheikhas of Qatar. She was very ecstatic then at the prospect of working in a palace. But when her documents were completed (minus the  ticket), she was told that her profile was liked by a very rich family in Lebanon and that they had no option but to send her to them. "In Lebanon you will be treated with the experience of a lifetime where you can literally walk on the snow, whereas in Qatar, you will  not be allowed to go to the mall nor remove your abayah, you will be a virtual prisoner inside the palace." (They now equated Qatar to hell.) All of us resisted the idea because of reports on some Filipino domestic helpers falling from buildings in Lebanon (like meteorites),  and widespread abuses of domestic helpers, (as evident in the embassy's crowded shelter housing hundreds of distressed runaway). When my sister decided to back out, she was made to pay for the ice cream and lunch the recruiter had earlier ordered in addition to  mouthfuls of profanities. Thank God she did not push through to Lebanon as the war broke out the next year that led to repatriation of thousands of domestic helpers from Lebanon.

Despite  Filipino communities and several Human Rights groups urging the government  to immediately ban the export of domestic helpers in Kuwait in the aftermath of the twin brutal murders of  our compatriots last month, the Philippine government stresses that it is not  placing a ban on deployment of domestic helpers in Kuwait just yet. The DFA was even straightforward in its assessment that placing a ban on domestic helpers in Kuwait is not the solution. So that tells of the wimps in the government how ineffectual and useless are they. All  facts and figures are readily laid out on the table yet they still refuse to act with urgency. Earlier recommendation in November 2009 by the three solons of complete banning did not even stand a chance of deliberation in Congress until it just died in limbo.

We know for a fact that abuses and deaths of our compatriot domestic helpers will not stop unless there is a complete banning of their deployment in the Middle East. As long as there remain barbaric and sex maniac Arab employers, there will be no dearth of abused victims being raped and murdered. The bad news is -  abusive behaviors by these human species have been the way of life here in this part of the world and will never become outdated and it will thrive as long as they propagate. Another bad news is - their cravings for human preys will be satisfied by the enterprising DFA officials, in the form of a fragile poverty-stricken commodity called Filipina domestic helper. Since the government admits its inability to find resolution to the situation, expect that more cases of abuses and murders will fill our primetime appetite in the coming weeks or months, ominously signaling that Asria's cause will be nothing but a 'charge to experience - better luck next time' send - off advice by the Philippine government. Where is the dignity they are advocating when the recipient is already dead?

I Call It Plain Stupidity!

"If this is not plain stupidity, then what?"

This isn't just fair. A fellow OFW was apprehended and detained on December 31, 2009 in Qatar. His crime - he is a suspect in a road rage murder that took place in the Philippines.

The murder happened in the evening of November 18, 2009 in Manila. The victim was the son of a Cabinet Assistant Secretary, thus a high profile case. The alleged assailant was Jason Aguilar Ivler. He is the nephew of the singer Freddie Aguilar. Ivler is an American citizen.

Meanwhile, the arrested OFW in Qatar is named Jason Aguilar, working as a welder who came to Qatar barely two months ago. Obviously this is a case of mistaken identity and for his part this is the cost of his being a "namesake" of the real criminal.

Since the name Jason Aguilar Ivler has already been on the Red Notice List of the Interpol, he can be arrested abroad and deported back to the Philippines at any time. And this is what the Qatari authorities did. They apprehended the namesake of the real murderer, and the poor OFW is headed back to the Philippines on January 7.

So now, let us commend the concerned authorities for a job well done. We should give credit to whom it is due. First and foremost, the NBI, for inspite of firmly believing that Ivler is just hiding somewhere in the Philippines, they were able to alert the Interpol for their cooperation.

Second, the Qatari authorities who were so passionate with their jobs, that they were able to apprehend and detain the purported "criminal" right in their own turf.

And third the DFA and the DOLE, for being clueless as to their functions in this case, wherein a poor and similarly clueless OFW became a hapless victim of this hugely atypical stupidity.

I just cannot comprehend how this was being done to an unsuspecting victim, by an humongously imbecilic minds in the NBI and the Interpol. Whatever protocol is being observed by them, as though an entire novel can be ruined by a mere misuse of comma for a semi-colon, then the poor welder must suffer the consequence!

According to Qatari authorities, the poor OFW has been cleared already, but nonetheless he will be deported back to further ascertain his identity. What an exponential idiocies!

And moronic? No scarcity from it:
1. Jason Aguilar the OFW, is never a namesake of the real criminal. The criminal carries Ivler as his family name, Aguilar is only his mother's maiden name.
2. Granting they are namesakes as the NBI would call it, what about all the 181 Jason Aguilars on Facebook alone?

3. Ivler is an American citizen and never a Filipino. His features are more of a Caucasian.
4. The crime took place in the evening of November 18, 2009. While the poor OFW left the country in the morning of the same date.
5. The NBI confidently suspects that the criminal Ivler is still in the country.

So what the hell are you doing to this poor OFW, who was detained since December 31 last year and spent his new year at the detention? Why no one would come to rectify this monumental blunder? If this is not plain stupidity, then what? Protocol? SOP?

And what happens next to this poor man? Why is it still necessary for him to be deported? After he gets deported, will he ever be allowed to come back to his job? Will the Philippine government extend help to him? How are they going to compensate for this man who could lose his job and help him start anew?

This is just bad, unfair, plain stupid, irrational, illogical, wrong, out-of-order, unconscientious, inhumane, imbecilic, idiotic, moronic, foolish, unChristian-like, unIslamic...yet perfectly legal!

To Jason Aguilar, I am just furious at the predicament you are in. I really am. I realize though, it pays to have an uncommon surname like mine. Something that I should be grateful of.

Related: Jason Aguilar Ivler's Music

The Massacre In Maguindanao: My Show Of Protest

"Unprecedented in a democracy. Evil in its entirety. A complete loss of respect for human life. Laws of men flouted with impunity. Who do they think they are? Are they demi-gods?"

I am lost for words. My eyes transfixed on the graphic brutality shown on television. I couldn't muster my spontaneous self to commentate. I kept still. I just pieced every single image. The brutality unleashed its scale beyond belief. Who are the perpetrators? Who are these beasts in Maguindanao?

On the third day since the massacre, fifty-seven dead bodies have been accounted for. This includes men and women from the Mangudadatu clan who were supposed to file for candidacies in the capital. Among the dead were fourteen journalists who were with the convoy to cover the event. Two women lawyers were not even spared. Civilians who just happened to be in close proximity with the convoy also bore the wrath of the criminals. They all died a savage death.

Fortunately for Ismael Toto Mangudadatu - the presumed candidate for governor of the province, he was spared from the carnage but his wife and sister were not that fortunate.

All the dead bore evidences of torture. Most of them were shot at close range, their faces disfigured. Women were raped before being murdered. Their private parts left exposed by the perverts. And many of the dead were buried in a shallow grave aided by the bulldozer owned by the province.

It was later known that rumors of an impending carnage circulated within the town of Ampatuan. This is proof that the plot to murder political opponents had earlier been hatched by the perpetrators. The intent itself to participate in a democratic process was enough to seal the destiny of the victims. Their mortal sin - daring to cross paths with the reigning powerful clan of Maguindanao - the Ampatuans.

Maguindanao is in the heartland of Muslim Mindanao. It is the third poorest province in the country. Its people are called Maranaos. Traditions of clan fightings abound within the area. Political dynasties are norms in the government. Reigning members of the clan hold as many as elective and appointive positions in the government. Even popular actress-politician Alma Moreno was married to a Maranao mayor - albeit in a polygamous set-up. Just few things my brain could store about this now infamous province, among others.

The Ampatuans led by its acknowledged patriarch Andal Ampatuan the governor of Maguindanao, have been close allies with the administration. They were proven to be reliable when it comes to support they could give in any election. True enough, the governor did ensure the victory of Arroyo in 2004, and delivering an inconceivable 12-0 victory to the senatoriables of the administration. Massive cheating was done almost at will in broad daylight, right under the noses of the civilian and military entities. Until now, it is incomprehensible why no one was prosecuted despite all the evidences.

The return of favor from the office of the president would then follow. The Ampatuans were allowed to keep private army for their protection. Some boys as young as ten would be enlisted to the militia - they otherwise call as the CVO or Civilian Volunteers Organization in their own legal assertion. The sight of a rifle-wielding boy ready to protect his lord is not a normal thing one would see in a democratic state. But this has become an accepted norm in Maguindanao for the revered and feared Ampatuans.

As the investigation of this grisly massacre develops, everybody is ready to point fingers at the Ampatuans. Based on early reports, the perpetrators were men of Andal Ampatuan Jr., one of the sons of Andal, the governor of the province who also grooms his son Zaldy to succeed him. The incriminating evidence against the Ampatuans screams loudest of this barbaric incident - only the devil is capable of plotting. No human being could live with the thought of having murdered fifty-seven innocent victims and yet goes on with his normal life.

It is also noted that the aggrieved clan of Mangudadatu are relatives of the Ampatuans through intermarriages - a tradition prevalent among Muslims. Some members of the Mangudadatu clan are also holding powerful positions in the province.The political stranglehold of these two clans in Maguindanao has become so impervious that a gatecrasher to the pen is unimaginable. And so their grip on power all the more tightens. But in this case, even a relative is deemed a threat and so their end had been brutally decided.

Although the call for swift justice is getting louder by the hour, it is still a grim reality that it did actually happen in a democracy like ours. It is difficult to comprehend, that our very own president has created a monster in the form of the Ampatuans. The culture of impunity and complete disregard of the rule of law stemmed from that pampering hand from Malacañan. The question whether justice will be administered in this gruesome massacre remains hanging in the balance.

News of this unthinkable brutality has created a wave of condemnation from international communities. Even the UN Secretary General was alarmed by this incident. Different media rights organizations join the condemnation in the strongest terms possible. And this has consequently elevated the Philippines to the status of being the most dangerous country for journalists. A distinction that this government should be ashamed of.

With all due respect, it is now your time Madame President to shine. Your term in office will certainly end few months from now. You have ample time left to redeem yourself. Honor the legacy of your father in a way that you would want your offspring to honor you in years to come. All the powers and authority is at your disposal. Show the Filipino people that you put this nation above everything else. That in the interest of democracy the rule of law will prevail. That no criminals of bestial character will go unpunished... at least in the remaining days of your office. Don't delay Madame President!

And to the criminals - the evil ones - the murderers - the beasts of Maguindanao - I know you also worship the god of your prophet. You claim to be peacemakers and you're proud of your heritage. The bravery of your ancestors is legendary beyond compare. But your greed has consumed your whole being. You led your people to transgress others outside of your fold . You live lives full of envy, hatred and wrath, that you did not spare even the innocent who are unable to protect themselves.

Your doom is near. Even your confidence of invincibility will wear you down. You will not be spared from the vengeance that the Mighty God has appointed for you. You and your people who take delight in the murders of the innocent. You and your people who feasted on the women whom you raped and murdered. Murderers and perverts, woe unto you! For God has assuredly said in His words,"I will never leave the wicked go unpunished."

Philippine Center For Investigative Journalism / Reporters Without Borders