The
Philippine State, Society
& Economy, 1992-1998
Mar 15, 95
Save Flor Contempacion Drive Elicits Worldwide Response
By Migrante -
Europa
The campaign to save the life of
Filipino domestic worker Flor Contemplacion, sentenced by a Singapore court
to be executed on March 17, and to obtain the justice so far denied her has
been eliciting daily urgent appeals and concerned calls from organizations
and individuals around the world.
We hope we can save Flor's life. We hope the Singapore authorities will
finally see the light, that they'll stay the execution of Flor and allow a
re-opening of the case because there is new and strong evidence showing her
innocence," said Grace Punongbayan of Migrante-Europa, the organization of
Filipino migrant workers anchoring the campaign overseas. Migrante-Europa
is the branch here of Migrante International in the Philippines which
defends and promotes the rights and welfare of Filipino contract workers
abroad and their relatives.
The campaign started to heat up only over a week ago when Poe Gratela,
secretary-general of Migrante International issued an appeal-cum-petition
last March 6 addressed to Singapore President Ong Teng Cheong, protesting
"this imminent tragedy" and "urging you to stay" the execution.
"We also urge the reinvestigation of her case, as there are fresh evidences
to prove her innocence," Gratela said in his appeal.
The Migrante International appeal was joined almost simultaneously by an
open letter from Gabriela, the well-known national alliance of women's
organizations.
Both appeals were immediately disseminated in the international community
for signatures and endorsements by Migrante-Europa, and Pinay sa Holland-
Gabriela. And since then, the telephones, fax machine and post office box
of Migrante-Europa have been overloading.
It's really fantastic -- very encouraging, we hope all of this will really
help," Punongbayan said.
Amnesty International, the head office based in London, responded on the
very day it was informed of the case and issued a worldwide Urgent Action
appeal on March 9.
The International Commission of Jurists, based in Geneva, Switzerland, also
responded immediately with its own urgent appeal.
The Dutch and Swedish sections of Amnesty International also called up for
more information and later sent word of their wholehearted support for the
campaign.
This afternoon Ms. Sigrun Katins of Ban Ying, a migrant's welfare group in
Germany, faxed this message to Punongbayan: "Thank you very much for
sending the information! I have sent your fax to more than 20 organizations
in Germany who will certainly send their support letters to the President of
Singapore. I really hope the life of Flor Contemplacion can be saved!"
From Madrid, Spain, also this afternoon, the Federacion de Asociaciones de
Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos faxed the text of a letter it
had sent the Singapore president. Its concluding paragraph reads: "We
firmly believe that Migrante International's demands are truly based on
justice and fully endorse them, as we consider that Flor Contemplacion's
human rights have not been duly upheld by the Singapore court."
Migrante-Europa together with Pinay sa Holland-Gabriela, Bayan
International, Liga ng Kabataang Pilipino are going to hold a vigil-picket
in front of the Singapore consulate in Rotterdam on Thursday March 16.
These groups emphasized that the vigil picket is our concrete expression of
solidarity for Flor and her family and our support for the call to stay the
execution and to reinvestigate the case."
Meanwhile, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement) labor center,
which had early on signified its all-out participation in the international
campaign, followed this up by issuing yesterday its "Appeal For Stay of Flor
Contemplacion's Execution."
The KMU statement said: "According to a testimony by Emilia Frenilla, a
Filipina domestic worker who worked for the brother of Wong Sing Keong, the
father of the boy and the employer of Maga, it was Wong Sing Keong who
killed Maga in a fit of anger when he found that his son Nicholas had died
allegedly by drowning following an epileptic seizure."
KMU head Crispin Beltran emphasized in the statement: "Following the study
of evidences and statements of witnesses, it is very apparent that Flor
Contemplacion is a victim of a miscarriage of justice."
Beltran added that "the fate of Contemplacion is the result of utter neglect
by the Ramos government not only of her case but of the plight of Filipino
migrant workers. Thus we believe that only international pressure and
support for Contemplacion could stay her execution and pave the way for the
re-opening of her case."
Migrante-Europa has received very positive responses for the campaign to
save the life of Flor Contemplacion from Filipino migrant workers in Europe
including those in the Netherlands, UK, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium
and Germany. Several groups of Filipina migrant women in the Netherlands
have started fund-raising for the campaign.
Migrante-Europa together with Pinay sa Holland-Gabriela, Bayan
International, Liga ng Kabataang Pilipino and other friends and supporters
of Flor Contemplacion are holding a vigil-picket in front of the Singapore
consulate in Rotterdam, Weena 666, on Thursday March 16, from 11:00 to 12:00
hours.
--------------------------------------------------
UPDATE ON FLOR CONTEMPLACION'S CASE
14 MARCH 1995
Yesterday 13 March, the following took place, as we gathered from reports in
the media and from various organizations involved in the international
campaign to stop the execution of Flor Contemplacion:
The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement) labor center issued an
appeal statement calling on the Singapore authorities to stay the execution
of Flor and to re-open the investigation in the light of new evidence
showing the condemned Filipina's innocence. (Enclosed is the KMU statement,
together with a second statement of GABRIELA).
The KMU asserted in its statement that it has clear evidence that the four-
year-old Singaporean child, Nicholas Wong, was in fact an epileptic; that he
actually died as a result of a seizure allegedly drowning in his bathwater;
and that most likely, the father subsequently killed Delia Maga out of rage
over the death of his child; and that later, the alleged "double murder" was
blamed on Flor Contemplacion, who happened to drop by to deliver presents
for her relatives to be carried by Delia Maga, who was scheduled soon to
leave for the Philippines on vacation.
Well-known human rights lawyer Romeo Capulong led a team of lawyers that
flew to Singapore, bringing with them affidavits and testimonies for Flor
Contemplacion's defense.
Capulong is the head of the Philippine Bar Association's Human Rights
Committee. he will be assisted in Singapore by Chandre Mohan, president of
the Singapore law society.
The documents brought by Capulong were executed and sworn to by Efren
Contemplacion, Flor's husband; Conrado Maga, husband of murder victim,
Delia; and by Emilia Frenilla, a Filipina fellow domestic helper.
Frenilla's affidavit, the report said, claims that she (Frenilla) overheard
Wong Seng Kiong (the dead child's father and Delia's employer) and his
brother, Wong Wang Kiong, talked about how the former killed Delia and
pinned the blame on Flor Contemplacion.
In further developments, Amnesty International and the International
Commission of Jurists have called for the staying of the execution of
Contemplacion. The International Labor Organization (ILO) Director General
Michel Hansenne has also asked Singapore President Ong Teng Cheong to stay
the execution of Contemplacion pending further review of the case.
Philippine Senator Ernesto Maceda called on President Ramos to change his
travel plans and drop by in Singapore on his way home from Europe to "show
his sincerity" in helping Contemplacion.
In the morning, the Singapore embassy in Makati, Metro Manila, became the
victim of a "bomb threat". The police immediately searched the compound and
no bomb was found.
The threat turned out to be a hoax perpetrated by a crank caller. The
organizations involved in the campaign have requested that this incident be
ignored as it is clearly either a complete hoax or a psy-war gimmick to
divert attention away from the seriousness of our international campaign.
--------------------------------------------------
March 16, 1995.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Singaporean President Ong Teng Cheong has denied ALL petitions and
appeals presented to him and has thereby affirmed the "Singaporean"
Courts order to EXECUTE FLOR CONTEMPLACION ON MARCH 17, 1995, despite NEW
evidence PROVING THE LIKELY INNOCENCE OF CONTEMPLACION.
TO ALL KABABAYANS WHO READ THIS POSTING:
DEMONSTRATE OUR OBJECTIONS TO THE INJUSTICE SUFFERED BY FLOR
CONTEMPLACION BY WRITING, SENDING YOUR E-MAILL, FAXING, AND CALLING
THE GOVERNMENT OF SINGAPORE AND ITS LEADERS.
CONDEMN THE RAMOS GOVERNMENT FOR ITS TOTAL DISREGARD AND ITS INABILITY TO
PROTECT AND ASSIST OUR OVERSEAS CONTRACT WORKERS.
JOIN THE WORLD-WIDE PROTEST AND SUPPORT MIGRANTE!!!!!!
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