Philippines
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Did DFA do enough in rape scandal?
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in...i-india-schoolFilipino diplomat's son raped in India by an Angolan (multiculture in the third world)
MANILA, Philippines – In a prestigious school in New Delhi, an 11-year-old Filipino boy trembled, as he squatted on a toilet seat.
Perched atop the toilet, he crouched as he was told, facing the flush valve. He was terrified and silent. Classes had just been dismissed.
Brian Rodriguez* was ready to go home, when his Angolan classmate Weza*, also in 5th grade, forced him into the school’s washroom.
Weza, taller and bigger than Brian, made him enter a toilet cubicle before he locked the door.
Weza pulled down his own shorts, then his underwear. Then he pulled down Brian’s school uniform shorts and his underwear too.
“Pinuwersa siyang tumungtong sa toilet at sinabing mag-squat siya,” the father of the victim wrote, describing the incident in a desperate letter. “Doon na nagsimula ang kababuyan na ginawa sa anak ko (He forced my son to squat on the toilet. And that’s when the bestiality began).”
In the letter, the father detailed the events that led to the abuse, up to the point when it actually happened.
Perhaps too pained to say it, Neil Rodriguez* instead wrote, “Sa diretsong pag-iisip ginawang aso ang anak ko (In other words, he treated my son like a dog).”
The distress in the email is clear as day.
It started with Neil introducing himself as the husband of a Philippine embassy official in India. He and his family lived in New Delhi, on diplomatic passports because of the job of his wife, Cecille*.
Then Neil talked about how his family’s life changed after they found out about Brian’s rape – which they only learned of in early June – 3 months after it happened in March 2017. His wife, he said, the breadwinner, had been sleepless, and their college daughter was suddenly failing class. Brian had first told his elder sister of the abuse, who then told her parents.
Neil said they’ve continuously asked help from the embassy, only to be ignored.
“Kaya po ako sumulat sa inyo Ma’am sapagkat humingi ako ng tulong at proper guidance (This is why I’m writing you because I am asking for help and proper guidance),” the email pleaded.
The email was dated June 30, 2017 and addressed to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Embassy action?
Brian’s rape hit news headlines in India on June 26, just a little over a week after the family found out about the abuse.
The email to the DFA, specifically addressed to Maria Lourdes Salcedo, Executive Director of the Human Resources Management Office, followed 4 days after.
But 11 months since the first letter was sent to the department, the family has yet to receive any assistance from the government, according to a source familiar with the family's plight.
According to documents obtained by Rappler, the Rodriguez family reached out to the Philippine government through multiple channels: first through the embassy, then to the DFA, and later, to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano himself.
The repeated pleas for help appeared to fall on deaf ears.
In the June 30 email, Neil said his wife Cecille informed the embassy of the incident early that same month, as soon as they learned about what happened to Brian. He said his wife met with Philippine ambassador to India Teresita Daza, Deputy Chief of Mission and Consul General Arvin de Leon, and new Administrative Officer Charles Lawrence Ching to seek their help.
“The ambassador told her we should resolve the problem as a family and just let her know what we decide to do,” he wrote in Filipino.
Neil said in the email that he was offended by the ambassador’s response, and wondered why the embassy did not help them – given the family’s diplomatic status.
He then addressed a strong question to the government agency, under an administration that has branded itself as an advocate of Overseas Filipino Workers' (OFWs') interests.
“Tayong tiga embassy na ganyan ang sinasabi sa 'tin, paano pa kaya ang pangkaraniwan na OFW (If we from the embassy are treated this way, then what more the regular OFW)?” he wrote in the email.
Help from foreigners
Aside from seeking help from the embassy, Neil said in his email that they brought Brian to the hospital for a check-up after they found out about the abuse.
At the hospital, “they took my child’s blood tests and an HIV test,” said Neil. “They inserted an instrument into my child’s butt to see the inside.”
The family was also informed by doctors that it was standard protocol for the hospital to report any incidents of crime to the police. Neil said in his email that they agreed to speak to authorities.
According to various news reports from Indian media, the police interviewed the family, including Brian, on June 22 and found sufficient basis to file a case.
Direct plea
By the end of June 2017, the Rodriguez family had gotten assistance from Indian authorities – the hospital, Brian’s school, and police – but still not from Philippine officials.
From the embassy, the family shifted their focus to the DFA.
Sent home
There was no written response to Cecille's email to Salcedo, nor the letter to Cayetano.
Instead, the DFA ordered the Rodriguez family to return to the Philippines – despite the case filed by the family with Indian police, in hopes of finding justice for Brian.
Documents show that on September 26, 2017, a little over two months after Cecille’s letter to Cayetano, DFA Undersecretary for Administration Linglingay F. Lacanlale signed an Assignment Order ordering the Rodriguez family to come home “effective immediately”.
Another Assignment Order dated October 10, this time signed by Undersecretary Jose Luis Montales, reiterated Cecille’s reassignment “effective 27 November 2017….from the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi to the Home Office.”
The reassignment was a surprise for the Rodriguez family, according to an appeal letter written by Cecille.
Of course this would be China's fault according to the proud champion of all filipinos, ironman... However, the hard, painful truth is that the Philippines government and wealthy "successful" filipinos don't care about filipinos enough.
The real and biggest issue facing filipinos today has nothing to do with their most convenient scapegoat, China (Chinese have no plans of taking over the Philippines). It has everything to do with the corruption within. The fact is the Philippines is diplomatically very weak and relies too much on foreign intervention. The Philippines was once the richest country in asia but unfortunately squandered all of it away. Self improvement is the first and most difficult step to take because with it comes self reflection.
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Originally Posted by Taiji
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