Philippine News Digest 74
April 03 - 13, 2004
Contents:
Manhunt
on for German national charged of child abuse
Death
of Mandaluyong inmate worries officials
Minors
rescued from recruiters
Manhunt
on for German national charged of child abuse
Former Senator Ernesto Maceda urged the National Bureau of Investigation
to launch a nation-wide manhunt for Reinhard Havikost, a German national
accused of raping at least ten girls in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro.
The former senator said in a statement that Havikost “is facing criminal
complaints for alleged non-bailable capital offenses punishable by life
imprisonment or death” and that if found, “the authorities must grab
him quickly given the grave nature of the charges against him.” The
child victims alleged that Havikost lured them into his cottage
where he sexually abused them from November to January with cash, food and
school supplies. Four other suspected foreign pedophiles are on trial,
according to records by the Network Against the Sexual Abuse of Children.
They were identified as American nationals Paul Jeffrey Anderson and
Robert Richards, Japanese national Hiroshi Taguchi and German national
Ludwig Friedrich Lotter. Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer,
13 April 2004.
Death
of Mandaluyong inmate worries officials
Anacita Baldomer, an inmate of the Mandaluyong City Jail, died of severe
asthma attack April 1. Her death raised questions about the condition of
other sickly prisoners in the city jail, which is home to 673 inmates
although it is designed only for 350 persons. Such a situation is
widespread all over the Philippines. The Preda Foundation has documented
subhuman conditions in prisons in the country. Most are over overcrowded
and poorly ventilated. Minors are detained in the same cells with adult
criminals. PREDA operates a rehabilitation center for children in conflict
with the law. It is expecting to admit at least 13 children presently
detained in Caloocan City Jail in the coming weeks. Source:
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 3 April 2004 with a report from PREDA.
Minors
rescued from recruiters
Authorities rescued 11 girls, eight of whom are of minor age, while they
are about to board a passenger plane at the Davao International Airport
April 2. They were accompanied by two recruitment agency representatives
and were on their way to Manila to be trained as entertainers in Japan.
They were using fictitious names and tampered birth certificates to make
them appear of legal age. The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003
imposes stiff penalties to any person involved in trafficking. Under the
law, acts that lead to the sexual exploitation of persons, including
children under any pretext of domestic or overseas employment or training
will get 20 years in prison and two million pesos fine. Lease or renting
houses that are used in any act of trafficking or publishing anything on
the internet or elsewhere that promotes trafficking of a person and faking
travel documents is also punishable by imprisonment of 15 years and
one million pesos. If the trafficked person is a child, the penalty is
life imprisonment and five million pesos fine.
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