Filipino Victims of Trafficking by US State Department:
Betrayed and Denied Justice by its Own Government 

Philippine Labor Secretary Arturo Brion has practically cleared the US State Department for trafficking overseas Filipino workers (OFW's) when he stated that it should be the Kuwaiti contractor which should be held liable for this alleged crime. That is even if the OFW's helped build the US Embassy in Baghdad which is under the said Department.

The Labor secretary is also muddling the issue by stating that only 11 OFW's helped in the construction of the Embassy. The problem is his main source is the contractor itself named First Kuwaiti.

He either is ignorant or wishes to ignore the US State Department's 2007 report on trafficking of persons which categorized Kuwait in tier 3 in this abominable practice. We would want to quote word for word on said report.

The Government of Kuwait does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. 

Kuwait reportedly is also a transit country for South and East Asian workers recruited by Kuwaiti labor recruitment agencies for low-skilled work in Iraq; some of these workers are deceived as to the true location and nature of this work, while others willingly transit to Iraq through Kuwait, but subsequently endure conditions of involuntary servitude in Iraq.

It would do well for the Labor Secretary instead to talk directly with John Owens and Rory J. Malberry who worked as civilian contractors of First Kuwaiti which exposed the trafficking incident to the US Congress. 

But the Labor Secretary does not give a damn about them. Sec. Brion had already implied that the Filipinos hired by First Kuwaiti earn a number of thousand US dollars a month. Even if Mr. Owens and Mr. Malberry claimed that the Filipinos working and living conditions were deplorable and intolerable.

It is becoming obvious that the Philippine government is taking its cue from the US government which had just increased military aid to the country. The State Department and the inspector general of the US-led military force in Iraq had been accused by the two American contractors of whitewashing the case. 

It would do well for the Philippine government likewise not to whitewash the case. To do so would only create more distrust from the Filipino people. Already the Labor Secretary is bragging at the high salaries of Filipino OFW's in Iraq while forgetting somewhat that Filipino nationals are supposed to be banned working and even being there as visitors. If being in Iraq is not trafficking than what is?

The main task for the Labor Secretary is to pursue the case against the culprit First Kuwaiti and its accomplices which includes the US State Department. He should not act as the spokesperson of the two entities. 

At the same time we are urging the Philippine Senate and Congress to conduct a similar investigation and hearing on this trafficking case. And if there is enough evidence against the perpetrators of said act, both Houses should pursue prosecution against the guilty parties and to issue a diplomatic protest against the US government. 

4 August 2007