The Philippine Legal Defense Fund And Education Center, Inc (PHILDEC)
And The Filipino American Legal Defense And Education Fund (FALDEF)
To Combat
Human Trafficking From The Philippines
To America
Just before Christmas,
in a joint operation conducted by the Filipino American Legal Defense
and Education Fund, Inc (FALDEF) and the
Philippine Consulate of New York, a Filipina was rescued who was the victim of
involuntary servitude in the hands of an Egyptian employer in New York City. In handling this case and other human/labor
trafficking cases of Filipinos against placement agencies/employers in the United States, FALDEF has recognized that these
can only proceed and, be more effective,
if the illegal recruiters in the Philippines
are simultaneously prosecuted. Because
of the fear of persecution on their
families back home, Filipinos in the U.S.
are extremely hesitant to seek legal
redress. More importantly, unless
the human/labor trafficking issue is addressed at its inception and the individuals who initially recruit potential
employees from the Philippines
are prosecuted for labor trafficking, there will be no end to the stream of human/labor trafficking victims from the Philippines.
(PHILDEC and FALDEF Directors with US Ambassador to the Philippines, Harry K. Thomas, Jr. and Ms. Loida Nicholas Lewis)
It was in the light of above-described reality that FALDEF
sought the assistance of the US
Ambassador Harry Thomas, Jr, with the end-in-view of finding common
avenues by which we could jointly combat human/labor trafficking. In this regard, The Filipino American Legal Defense and
Education Fund, Inc. ( FALDEF ) accepted an invitation from US Ambassador
Thomas to come to the Philippines
and, which trip culminated in a dinner reception hosted by the US
Ambassador at his residence on February 27, 2013.
The first step taken in the long and arduous road to combat
human/labor trafficking was the setting up
of a pro-bono legal defense counterpart,
an NGO, which as of this writing has
been successfully established. It is officially called PHILDEC, Philippine
Legal Defense and Education Center, Inc.
It was recognized by none other than the U.S. Ambassador to
the Philippines,
Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, Jr. who
first met both the directors of FALDEF as well as the new Directors of PHILDEC
at the reception he tendered at his residence on February 27, 2013.
The more than week
long sojourn was filled with meetings and discussions among and with the
officers, volunteers and some identified NGOS on the matter of human/labor
trafficking.
PHILDEC is comprised
of two boards, one Advisory and another Working. In this connection, FALDEF is
proud to announce that the following highly esteemed individuals have chosen to
lend themselves, their expertise and commitment in the pursuit of justice, the
majesty of the rule of law and the aristocracy of human dignity as members of
PHILDEC boards.
Advisory Board Members:
1) Former Philippine Supreme
Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr
2) Fr. Joaquin
Bernas, SJ (one of the foremost authorities on Phil. Constitutional law, former law dean of the Ateneo Law
School)
3) Fr. Romeo Intengan
SJ (former Jesuit Provincial and noted social crusader )
4) Atty. Antonio La
Vina (Dean, Ateneo
School of Government)
5) Atty. Avelino
Cruz, Jr. (former Secretary of National Defense; Partner: Carpio Villaraza and Cruz Law Offices)
6) Atty. Rolando
Mario Villonco (Managing Partner: Siguion Reyna Law Offices).
7) Fr. Nilo Tanalega,
SJ President of the UGAT Foundation
Working Board Members:
1). Atty. Clarence
Guerrero (Private Practitioner and former Chief Counsel of Manila Bank).
2). Atty. Eva Laluna
(Private Practitioner and Advocate of Women's Rights)
3). Atty. Eric
Mallonga (Private Practitioner and former Counsel of Bantay Bata)
4). Rene Madarang ( Community Development Specialist)
5). Fr. Julio Ramon
Mallonga (CICM; Missionary with 21 years of experience in South
America; a social advocate and community organizer).
6). Captain Nilo Du
(Private Entrepreneur and owner of Shipping -related businesses).
7). Christian Laluna
(Communications Director, Ateneo
School of Government).
8). Engr. Felizardo
Mercado, Jr., ( Community Dev. Manager, Philip Morris, Philippines).
FALDEF Directors who flew to Manila to attend the meeting and Global Summit:
1) JT Mallonga, Esq.
2) Merit Salud, Esq.
3) Nimfa Du-Tinana
4) Cely Deauna
5) Patricia Astorga,
Esq.
6) Loida Nicholas
Lewis
7) Jose Ramos, Jr.
8) Dr. Angie Cruz
9) Ramon Tinana
In addition to the above, Prosecutor General, Claro Arellano of the Dept of Justice expressed
interest on the issue of human/labor trafficking. Also, Dean Danilo Concepcion of the University of the Philippines College
of Law (UP Law Center) and Dean Sedfrey
Candelaria of the Ateneo College of Law (Ateneo Human Rights Center)
manifested deep interest in working and partnering with PHILDEC on the
educational aspect relating to human rights and labor trafficking.
Once operational, PHILDEC and its volunteer lawyers will
work hand-in-hand with Philippine prosecutors, allied NGOS and government
agencies.
Additional discussions and meetings are planned to flesh
out, fully develop and make seamless the partnership between U.S. based
Filipino American Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc. (FALDEF) and
Philippine based Philippine Legal Defense Fund and Education Center, Inc (PHILDEC).
This, at least, begins one of the many little steps on the long, complex and
arduous road to combat human/labor trafficking from the Philippines to America.
(Various community leaders and professionals at the Global Summit 2013)
The FALDEF team attended the 2nd D2D (Diaspora to
Development) Global Summit of Filipinos in Diaspora, which was held on February
25-27, 2013 in Manila, Philippines. FALDEF President,
Atty. JT S. Mallonga, was one of the resource speakers on "Legal
Assistance to Filipinos in Distress in the US", a workshop on Global
Legal Assistance on Advocacy.
For more information about FALDEF, please visit their
website at www.faldef.org.
Photo credit: Ramon Tinana
