PSG detains OFW for flashing placard

MANILA, Philippines – A Migrante spokesman was briefly detained on Saturday by Presidential Security Group (PSG) members traveling with the President in Qatar because he flashed a placard with the message "No to Cha-cha."

The Kapatiran ng Gitnang Silangan (KGS), an affiliate of Migrante International based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, condemned the detention as harrasment and a violation of freedom of speech.

In a statement issued on Sunday, KGS said PSG members detained Ricardo de Jesus, the Migrante spokesman in Qatar, during the meeting of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with the Filipino community there.

The condemnation was issued on Sunday by the Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS), an affiliate of Migrante International based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

De Jesus, who also heads the Crisis Committee of the Filipino Community Alliance in Qatar, was only released when other Filipino community leaders intervened.

The KGS blames Arroyo, the PSG, and Philippine Embassy officials, led by Ambassador Isaias Bigornia for the harassment and violation of the right of De Jesus to free expression on a current Philippine political situation.

De Jesus has been urging the Philippine government to protect the welfare of Filipino migrant workers, particularly those recently retrenched brought about by the effects of the global economic meltdown.

"Apparently, the Arroyo administration is more keen on extending its presidential term by changing the Constitution than extending assistance to distressed Filipino workers abroad by silencing those that oppose moves to amend the Philippine Constitution," KGS said in a statement.

KGS also stressed that there are some 70 Filipino workers languishing in Doha deportation cells that Arroy is keeping quiet.

The OFW alliance belies the Philippine Embassy's labor officials' claims that Filipino workers that ran away from their problems with Qatari employers and sought embassy assistance are immediately repatriated and given government livelihood programs.

"The distressed workers are only brought to rot inside Doha deportation jails but not immediately sent home," De Jesus said following his release, which greeted with applause by the Filipino community. - D'Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV

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