I COULD hardly believe my eyes when I saw, on the news Wednesday night, police troopers running inside the Iloilo provincial capitol with their M-16 assault rifles aimed at the helpless supporters of Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Jr., screaming at them and threatening them with their guns. Tupas is one of several opposition politicians that the Office of the Ombudsman has suddenly decided to act against just four months before the national elections.
Screaming in fright, the group of Tupas supporters, including the governor’s own son who is a member of the provincial board, huddled on the floor, raising their hands over their heads in self-defense against the expected blows from the soldiers.
Barricaded inside the capitol, Gov. Tupas was refusing to budge, praying fervently for a temporary restraining order from a regional court. Luckily for him, the Court of Appeals in Cebu City issued a 60-day TRO on Wednesday afternoon, allowing Tupas to stay in power.
But this excessive show of force, which was state brutality in its ugliest form, was a sign that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her Interior Secretary Ricardo Puno are ready to use levels of force and violence not seen since the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
The Office of the Ombudsman has also issued orders for Batangas Gov. Armand Sanchez, Mayor Wenceslao “Peewee” Trinidad of Pasay City, and Mayor Antonio Prospero Esquivel of Jaen, Nueva Ecija, to step down because of complaints filed against them for alleged involvement in graft or unfair dismissal of local government employees.
Gov. Sanchez had also barricaded himself in the provincial capitol, with his supporters camping outside and keeping a vigil to block the entry of soldiers that were expected to show up to enforce the Ombudsman’s decision. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has now given Sanchez a 24-hour reprieve until today to leave the premises. The governor is waiting for a local court to issue a TRO, so that he can remain in office while he fights the charges.
The mayor of Jaen, Nueva Ecija, has also been given until today to vacate his office, but he has said that he won’t leave if he also gets a TRO in time.
This cat and mouse game being played by the Arroyo administration and opposition politicians is alarming and just makes the Philippines look like a banana republic.
All of the targeted politicians are very popular with their constituents and it is clear that Arroyo and her allies are desperately afraid of losing heavily in the provinces in the upcoming elections in May. That they have to resort to such violent actions that seem more fit for a Nazi-like regime than the democratic state that the Philippines is supposed to be, is extremely worrying.
Expect more of the same and targeted assassinations before the elections. I already predicted that these elections would be one of the bloodiest ever in Philippine history. Unfortunately, my prediction is coming true.
Are Filipino Maids Being Priced Out of the Market?
THE new Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) rules for women going abroad to work as domestic helpers are being decried by many maids and their employment agencies for being too onerous and an obstacle to them finding jobs abroad.
Effective March 1, the minimum salary for a Filipino maid has been set at $400 a month, a 100 percent increase over the previous minimum of $200 a month. Not only that, but the minimum age for overseas deployment has been raised to 25, and the POEA is asking Saudi employers to provide them with a map showing their house location, a plan of the house showing its size and number of rooms, photos of all family members, and proof of income of the employer.
Naturally, Saudi recruitment agencies have been up in arms at these requirements and have allegedly stopped hiring Filipino women to work in the Kingdom.
I think these new requirements are good as they will force employers to pay for quality Filipino labor, and will also help protect the most vulnerable and abused of OFWs.
If Philippine embassies have the complete address and photos of the employers of Filipino maids, it will make it much easier for them and local authorities to track abusive employers and take action against them.
Some Saudis will invariably say that such requirements make them look like potential criminals. But it is the sad truth that maids, be they Filipino, Indonesian or Sri Lankan, are the most abused of foreign workers here. If Saudi families want Filipino maids, most of whom have college degrees, they will have to pay them better wages and give all requested information to Philippine officials. It’s a small price to pay for quality labor.
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