Page 38 - Hello Philippines March 2016 'A' issue

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US deports alleged PinoyADMITSSPYINGONPOLITICALTARGETSINPHL human rights violator
IMMIGRATION authorities in the
United States has deported a Filipino
who admitted to doing surveillance
for a law enforcement task force in the
Philippines linked to the disappearance
of several opposition politicians.
Regor Cadag Aguilar, 42, was
arrested by US Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel
in Union City in January last year for
overstaying, the agency said in a news
release.
Prior to his deportation on
Wednesday last week, Aguilar said he
had worked as a surveillance agent
for a law enforcement task force in
OFW finally home
JOSEPH Urbiztondo, the Filipino
instructor in Kuwait who was jailed for
20 years for a crime he said he did not
commit, is finally home, a radio report
said Tuesday.
A report by Mao del Cruz on dzBB
radio said Urbiztondo arrived in the
country past 8 a.m. on board a Philippine released January 2016 after paying the
Airlines (PAL) flight and was greeted by
his family and relatives at the airport.
The report said Urbiztondo thanked
Pinay in Scarborough pleads guilty in ‘5-6’ loan racket case
A Filipina who has pleaded guilty
to illegal lending in Scarbrough, North
Yorkshire, in England has received a
suspended prison sentence.
A report on Scarborough News said
the York Crown Court gave Adelaida
Thompson, 65, two eight-month
sentences, suspended for two years,
and ordered her to do 150 hours of
unpaid work.
She was also given a curfew of 7 p.m.
Pinay found dead in Dubai with stab wounds
the Philippines targeting rival political
figures from 1998 to 2001.
During removal proceedings initiated
by the ICE Enforcement and Removal
Operations (ERO), he said his superiors
told him that the task force used the
information he shared to “abduct and
murder” a politician in 2000.
Aguilar also said he heard superiors
order other task force members to
torture abductees “on at least two
occasions.”
He further claimed he knew
that one of his surveillance targets
“disappeared and was presumed dead”
as early as 1998.
all the people and organizations who
helped him pay the $26,000-dollar
blood money needed for his release.
Urbiztondo, 45, was sentenced to 25
years imprisonment in 1996 for killing
a Bangladeshi co-worker. He was
blood money and securing a letter of
forgiveness from the victim’s son.
Even today, Urbiztondo maintained
his innocence, saying he was forced
to 7 a.m. for three months for illegally
receiving over £140,000 in repayments in
a “5-6” scheme involving Filipino health
professionals in Scarbrough.
The report said Thompson lent more
than £113,000 and received more than
£142,000 in repayments in 167 transactions
to 29 different borrowers “over a period of a lending scheme using high interest
more than four years.”
Simon Mortimer, solicitor for the
England Illegal Money Lending Team,
A 26-year-old Filipina from
Negros Occidental was found
dead in her home in Dubai on Feb.
18, a report on Unang Balita on
Wednesday said.
She was identified as Maria
Lenlie Oliverio.
The victim was found with many
stab wounds in her body.
Consul General Paul Raymund
Cortes said police in Dubai are still
investigating the incident.
NEWS
Despite this, the Filipino insisted
that he didn’t know the extent of the
task force’s illegal activities during his
employment.
ICE Deputy Director Daniel
Ragsdale said the removal had been in
the making “for more than a decade”
as Aguilar’s visa expired 15 years ago.
Aguilar petitioned a review of
the Board of Immigration Appeals’
decision on his and his wife’s petition
for asylum in 2015.
The court denied the appeal on the
grounds that he failed to “demonstrate
that it is more likely than not he will
be tortured upon return” and that he
NBI entrapment nets 2 illegal recruiters at NAIA
AN alleged illegal recruiter and his
accomplice were arrested Tuesday in an
entrapment operation at the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2, a
report by John Consulta on “24 Oras” said.
Daniyala Radcala, a visa checker at the
airport, and his accomplice Melba Portugal
were arrested by National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) agents upon receiving
the marked money from the victims, the
report said.
Citing the NBI, the report said the
suspects would let the victims pass the
after 20 years
to admit to the crime after he was
tortured by authorities.
The dzBB report said Urbiztondo,
who is from Cavite province, intends
to visit the tombs of his parents
first, adding both died while he was
incarcerated in Kuwait.
The blood money was raised through
the help of Filipino organizations in
Kuwait. n KBK, GMA News / Published / February 23,
2016 / 1:56 pm
said this may only cover a small part
of Thompson’s transactions with close
friends, all of whom were Filipino
healthcare workers or nurses at
Scarborough Hospital.
Thompson told The Scarborough
News that she lent money at a 5-6 rate,
rates popular in the Philippines and
India. n Rie Takumi / KBK, GMA News / Published / The report said the 39-year-old
February 19, 2016 / 2:06 pm
Authorities are still trying to
determine who may have killed the
victim and what the motive was.
Meanwhile, Oliverio’s Facebook
account revealed she has a boyfriend
who is an Indian national and who
allegedly is a jealous lover.
Meanwhile, the Consulate said
it is ready to provide assistance so
the victim’s remains can be brought
back to the Philippines. n KG, GMA News /
Published / February 24, 2016 / 8:29 am
March 2016 – No. 05 • UK & Europe Edition
“participated in persecution” of the
task force’s victims.
Carlos Conde of the Human Rights
Watch said Aguilar was a member
of the Presidential Anti-Organized
Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), which
was formed in 1998 by then-President
Joseph Estrada.
The PAOCTF is implicated in
the unsolved murder of publicist
Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver
Emmanuel Corbito, who were allegedly
abducted, strangled, and burned to
death by members of the task force in
2000. n Rie Takumi / KBK, GMA News / Published /
February 19, 2016 / 4:56 pm
airport’s screening section using fake was just asked to accompany the victims
documents. to the airport. “Napag-utusan lang ho
ako,” she said.
According to the victim, he applied for
a job as a driver in Saudi Arabia, but the However, a check on the text
Overseas Employment Certificate given to messages on the suspects’ cellphones
him by the suspects listed his occupation revealed that they’ve been conducting
as electrician. their illegal scheme for a while already.
The suspects, meanwhile, denied the The report said the victim had to avail
accusation. of loans just to apply for an overseas job.
“Hindi totoo ‘yan. Visa check lang ako. Radcala and Portugal are facing
Chini-check ko lang ‘yung mga visa. Wala charges of illegal recruitment and
kaming tinatanggap na pera,” said Radcala. human trafficking, the report said. n KBK,
Portugal, on the other hand, said she GMA News / Published / February 23, 2016 / 8:22 pm
in Kuwaiti jail
Pinoy stabs son, wife in fit of anger in Malaysia
A Filipino man was arrested for by running outside their home and
allegedly stabbing his son and wife in asking for help from their neighbors.
a fit of anger in Kampung Malampoi The wife, who is also a Filipino,
Nabawan, Malaysia, according to a was taken to the Keningau hospital for
report on The Star. treatmentm The Star said.
Police recovered two kitchen knives
suspect got angry after his wife asked believed to be the weapons used in the
for money to pay their bills. attack, the report said.
Instead of responding, the suspect Keningau police chief Deputy
allegedly took a knife and stabbed Supt Douglas Nyeging Taong said the
his sleeping son, 8, who was his child suspect, who had no travel documents,
from a previous marriage. The boy was suspected to be a drug addict.
died. The suspect’s wife had an expired visa
The suspect’s 49-year-old wife pass while he and his son had no valid
attempted to stop the attack but was documents. n Rie Takumi / KBK, GMA News /
stabbed in the abdomen. She survived Published / February 25, 2016 / 2:40 pm