DOJ recommends raps vs. labor exec in Saudi over ‘sex for flight scheme’

The Department of Justice has recommended the filing of acts of lasciviousness charges against a labor attaché in Saudi Arabia, who was embroiled in a "sex for flight" scheme preying on overseas Filipino workers.

The DOJ declined to identify the labor official, saying the Anti-Rape Law prohibited it, but added it found probable cause to file two counts of abuses against chastity.
 
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima explained that certain provisions in Republic Act 8353 or the Anti-Rape Law prohibits the government from divulging to the public names of victims and suspects in rape cases.
 
An official may be held liable for abuses against chastity when he "solicits or makes an immoral or indecent advances to a woman interested in matters pending before such officer for decision," according to Article 245 of the Revised Penal Code.
 
The complainant-OFW said she went to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office on February 5, 2013 after she ran away from her employer. She was brought to Bahay Kalinga where she first met the labor attaché.
 
She said she sought refuge from the POLO because her employer allegedly forced her to work for almost 24 hours a day, and even locked her up for two nights without food and water.
 
"On their way to the Bahay Kalinga, respondent labor attaché asked if her employer touched her private parts, and if not, would she allow him to do it," said the DOJ.
 
Then in April 2013, the victim said she received a call from a man who identified himself as "Muhammad" and offered her a part-time job of having a "one-night stand."
 
The victim claimed she recognized the man's voice as the labor attaché's since she has been speaking with him over the phone at least thrice a week for the past two months.
 
The following day, "Muhammad" called her up once again and requested that she send him a photo of her in her underwear, but the victim refused. The OFW also claimed "Muhammad" mentioned "personal circumstances" that only she and the labor attaché knew about.

Dismissed complaints
 
Meanwhile, two other complaints against the same labor attaché filed separately by two other OFWs in Saudi Arabia were dismissed.

In one of the dismissed complaints, the victim failed to show up during the preliminary investigation.
 
In the second complaint, the DOJ did not find probable cause to charge the labor attaché for allegedly offering the victim a "part-time job" at Bahay Kalinga so she could buy a ticket and return to the Philippines.
 
"The National Prosecution Service observed that her accusation was obviously a mere suspicion or presumption; that respondent labor attaché never elaborated what the part-time job would be," said the DOJ.
 
Also, the DOJ recommended charges of acts of lasciviousness against a POLO driver, who allegedly sexually abused an OFW at the government shelter in August 2012. The driver was likewise not identified. — RSJ, GMA News

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