Sex for plane tickets investigation in Philippines
Officials investigate alleged deal by labour officials
Manila: Officials in the Philippines are investigating an alleged deal by labour officials offering plane tickets in return for sexual favours by overseas Filipino workers.
The Philippine government began its probe in a few Middle Eastern countries although no formal complaint has been filed by any OFW, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Carmelita Dimzon told the Manila Times.
An inter-agency committee comprising of officials from the labour department, foreign affairs, and OWWA has been created for this purpose, Dimzon said.
She also asked victimised OFWs to come forward, adding that their identities will be protected,
“We are encouraging them to come out and inform us. We need their formal complaints.
“Rest assured that their identities will be protected,” Dimzon announced.
There will be no whitewash to protect government officials, she gave assurance. President Benigno Aquino has also approved the investigation, Times said.
The alleged corrupt practice is widespread because of the large number of OFWs who illegally work as domestic helpers abroad, a source told Gulf News.
Suspected officials from the Philippine Embassy and its attached Philippine Overseas Labour Office (Polo) in Kuwait were not yet identified.
Polo is mandated to help bring home endangered OFWs even if they have been working illegally abroad, without proper travel documents and insurance payment.
Polo was established in all Philippine embassies abroad on 1995, to take care of the plight of OFWs, especially those who work as domestic helpers.
Polo became a very important component of Philippine embassies abroad after Flor Contemplacion, a domestic helper, was executed (by hanging) by the state of Singapore in 1995, because she allegedly murdered a compatriot.
The incident resulted in the ousting of foreign and labour secretaries in the Philippines. It also soured ties between Singapore and the Philippines.
Since then, foreign affairs’ policy in the Philippines also involved the protection of all OFWs in countries where they are posted.
There are nine million registered OFWs worldwide. They sent more than $20 billion remittance to their relatives in the Philippines in 2012. The sector is one of the largest sources of government revenues through the banking system. Spenders of OFWs’ relatives fuel the Philippine economy.
