Philippine News Digest 73
March 27, 2004 ·
Contents:
-Another German charged with rape by 10 girls
-Campaign to stop violence against street children launched
-American sex offender to be deported
Another German charged with rape by 10 girls
At least ten girls aged 7-14 years old have filed rape charges against German national Reinhard Havikost whom they accused of abusing them from November last year to January this year. The children said Havikost lured them into his cottage with money, food and school supplies and that they kept the abuse secret for a time because of fear they would be scolded by their parents. It is believed that the parents of some of the children acted in connivance with Havikost in abusing the children in exchange for money and other favors. Havikost is staying in Ermita, Manila with his wife but he is now hiding after he learned of the charge against him. Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, 27 March 2004.
Campaign to stop violence against street children launched
EARTHACTION, a global network of over 2,2000 organizations in 161 countries has launched a global campaign to end violence against street children. It urges governments to actively participate in the UN Global Study on Violence Against Children and to launch ‘zero-tolerance’ campaigns on violence against street children in their own countries. A decade after the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, by and large governments have failed to turn promises into practice and rhetoric into reality. More children than ever are deprived of their rights. There is an estimated 650 million children living in absolute poverty, millions live and work on the streets, 20 million are trapped in child labour, 120 million do not have the opportunity to attend primary school, an estimated 300,000 are recruited as soldiers in armed conflicts and millions, mostly girls, are victims of sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information, visit www.earthaction.org and www.preda.org.
American sex offender to be deported
Filmore Salindo Talaroc, American, 38, was arrested March 31 in his home in southern Iligan City, Philippines and will be deported to the United States as his presence in the country could be “detrimental to the safety of Filipinos, paticularly minor girls and boys,” according to US Embassy immigration attache Julian Briola. Talaroc was convicted in a US court in 1996 and served a six-month prison term for showing a 16-year old girl pictures of himself with the intention of seducing her. He is also registered in California as a sex offender. Philippine immigration law prohibits the entry of aliens previously convicted of a crime related to moral depravity. Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, 03 April 2004.
