Legislator bares sexual exploitation of Filipinas by PH embassy personnel

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello PHOTO TAKEN FROM FACEBOOK.COM

MANILA, Philippines—Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello claimed Tuesday that three Philippine embassy officials have been sexually exploiting distressed Filipino female workers in the Middle East, a practice that higher-ups had allegedly ignored.

Bello said at a news conference that two of the embassy personnel, whom he identified as officers of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in the Jordanian capital Amman and in Kuwait, were involved in running sex rings in those two places that send Filipinas to service wealthy clients.

The third official, he claimed, was a member of the augmentation team of the Department of Foreign Affairs at the embassy in Damascus, Syria, who allegedly engaged in sexual acts with OFWs staying at the embassy’s shelter for distressed workers.

Bello said he was making a public disclosure of the information, which he claimed had come from “unimpeachable sources” within the DFA and the DOLE, after they asked him to expose the unsavory deeds perpetrated in their offices.

“Indeed, our sources have asked us to expose the criminals in their ranks because their acts are giving the agencies a bad name, and they can no longer tolerate the inaction of their superiors,” he said.