VP Sara urges local leaders to uphold integrity, unite in service

MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday, February 17 urged local leaders to uphold integrity and practice unity to realize true public service, as her political party Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) continues to expand.

In a speech, Duterte said membership in the Lakas-CMD entails the burden of public service and accountability.

“Today, we are reminded of our noble duty to uphold the highest degree of integrity and accountability in all our public pursuits. By accepting to become a member of a political party, we also accept the challenge to work in unity towards a common goal -the welfare of the people we serve,” she said.

Duterte made the statement during the joint Davao de Oro and Davao del Norte Lakas-CMD mass oathtaking at the Tagum City Historical and Cultural Center.

She reiterated that unity in leadership, down to local governance, would mean warm recognition and development in the country despite diversity across cultures and ideologies.

“With a united political party, we can navigate the path to inclusive growth, and espouse good governance that sees beyond political colors and principles,” she added.

Duterte also recalled the administration’s eight-point economic agenda to point the targeted direction for the country within its six-year term.

Partnership with IBP

Meanwhile, Duterte expressed her gratitude to Supreme Court justices for giving her advice on a possible partnership between the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

In another speech during the 50th founding anniversary of the IBP, Duterte, being the concurrent education chief, said she considers their advice to aid educators in legal matters.

“I sought their advice on how to help our public school teachers with regard to their loan

MANILA – An American wanted by authorities in the U.S. state of Wisconsin for sexually molesting a child nearly two decades ago was arrested in Manila, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported on Friday, February 17.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Francisco Gomez, 62, was apprehended by the bureau’s fugitive search unit (FSU) in Ermita last Feb. 9. Tansingco issued a mission for the arrest of Gomez at the request of the U.S. authorities in Manila which sought the BI’s help in locating the suspect. “We will deport him as soon the BI board of commissioners issues the order for his summary deportation after which he will be blacklisted and banned from re-entering the country,” he said in a statement.

Tansingco noted that the American’s continued presence in the country poses a threat to Filipinos. BI-FSU chief Rendel Ryan Sy added that Gomez is wanted to stand trial before a circuit court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin which

MANILA — The remains of Wilma Abulad Tezcan, who was among those killed in a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Turkey’s Antakya City last Feb. 5, arrived late Wednesday night, February 15, at the Pair Cargo warehouse on a Turkish Airways flight.

Only her daughter Nicole accompanied her return to Manila as her Turkish husband Gurol Tezcan lost his passport during the earthquake. Tezcan is scheduled to arrive on Saturday, February 18 after securing a new passport.

Wilma’s remains, placed in a metal box that is contained in a coffin, were brought to Lucena City for the wake. However, this will remain sealed until her burial following a Muslim ritual.

Her father William Abulad, who met her remains together with other government officials at the airport, said “Ako po ay lubos na natutuwa kahit siya ay nasa kabilang buhay ay makakarating sa amin lugar sa Ilayang Dupay at doon naming ililibing malapit sa amin (I am very grateful that even when she is already in the afterlife, she will still arrive in our place in Ilayang Dupay and there we will bury her near to us).”

The grieving Nicole narrated how they were able to find her mother after the earthquake.

“My stepfather sent a message saying he could not contact my mother. We immediately traveled to Hatay, Antakya for 15 hours to help find her alive. But we failed,” she said in Filipino.

The remains of the other Filipina who died in the earthquake were already buried in Turkey as per request of her Turkish husband.

There are at least 4,000 Filipinos living and working in Turkey, mostly in Istanbul and the northwest part of the country.

Meanwhile, the labor group Migrante International wants the government to adopt additional measures in protecting overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Kuwait.

Migrante chair Joanna Concepcion said the government, especially the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), should go beyond just sending a factfinding team to the Middle Eastern country to investigate the brutal killing of Filipina domestic helper Jullebee Ranara.

“Sending a fact-finding team to Kuwait to investigate only when a high-profile case of an OFW death occurs is part of the problem and in fact demonstrates that government agencies and officials mandated to uphold and protect the rights of our OFW have been passive in responding to cases of rights violations among our OFW,” Concepcion said, noting that a surge in contract violations since 2017 should have alarmed the government.

“The increasing numbers should already sound the alarm that the conditions of our OFWs in Kuwait are worsening and that policies of government to protect them have not been effective. Decisive government action should have been done to address these weaknesses,” she added.

She questioned why there are no regular investigations concerning the rising contract violations and improvement in internal policies as she noted that regular monitoring is a primary responsibility of the government and not of recruitment agencies.

“Monitoring can be done by implementing systems to make it easier for OFWs or their families to report violations and receive immediate and comprehensive assistance,” Concepcion stressed. OFWs who experience violations of their rights and dignity must have access to justice mechanisms both in the host country and in the Philippines, she added.  obligations,” she said. “They gave me good advice and I am looking forward to partnering with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to help our public school teachers with regard to their problems sa mga utang nila at sa mga kontrata nila (in their loans and contracts).”

Besides legal assistance, Duterte assured the DepEd is doubling its efforts to address the concerns of teachers.

These include the review and updating of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers with the aid of legislators, the provision of free medical check-ups through a partnership with the Department of Health (DOH), and addressing concerns of teachers for their insurance and benefits through coordination with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), among others.

The DepEd also vowed to hire teaching and non-teaching personnel to drop unnecessary loads of teachers, particularly their administrative tasks. (PNA) issued a warrant for his arrest on Feb. 26, 2003, after he was charged with sexual assault of a child. He, however, eluded arrest in the U.S. and on Oct. 6, 2006 he fled to the Philippines and never left the country since then. Gomez is already an undocumented alien due to the cancellation of his passport by the U.S. State Department.

The foreigner is currently held at the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings. (PNA)