RP foreign minister resigns over Flor case<\/p>\n
MANILA (Reuter): A tearful Philippine foreign minister
\nresigned yesterday, the latest and most prominent casualty in a
\nmajor domestic and diplomatic row over the execution of a
\nFilipina maid for double murder in Singapore.<\/p>\n
Foreign Affairs Secretary Roberto Romulo, his voice choked
\nwith emotion, told a news conference he hoped his departure would
\nhelp calm the furor over Flor Contemplacion, hailed at home as a
\nnational martyr despite confessing to the murders.<\/p>\n
The execution has caused the most serious rift between members
\nof the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since the
\nsix-nation alliance, which also includes Brunei, Indonesia,
\nMalaysia and Thailand, was formed in 1967.<\/p>\n
It has become a serious liability for President Fidel Ramos
\nahead of legislative and local government elections on May 8.<\/p>\n
Romulo, 56, said the opposition was using the Contemplacion
\ncase to attack Ramos's three-year-old government.<\/p>\n
\"It has pained me deeply that all the achievements of your
\nadministration have been so adversely affected by the controversy
\nsurrounding the Maga-Contemplacion case,\" he told Ramos in his
\nletter of resignation.<\/p>\n
\"It is my desire now that the country will be able to see the
\nsituation from a cooler and more objective perspective,\" he told
\nreporters in the Malacanang presidential palace.<\/p>\n
Romulo's letter was dated April 3 but Ramos only announced
\nyesterday he was accepting it \"with deep regret\".<\/p>\n
Labor and opposition groups have demanded Romulo's dismissal
\nsince Contemplacion's March 17 execution for the 1991 murder of
\nfellow Filipina maid Delia Maga and Maga's four-year-old
\nSingaporean ward, Nicholas Huang.<\/p>\n
An inquiry Ramos set up echoed the views of many Filipinos
\nwhen it concluded there was a \"great possibility\" Contemplacion
\nwas innocent.<\/p>\n
It described Singapore as a \"police state\" and said it was
\npossible Contemplacion has been tortured into confessing.<\/p>\n
Singapore has offered to reopen its investigation if a neutral
\npanel of experts agrees with a Manila autopsy team which exhumed
\nMaga's corpse.<\/p>\n
The Manila team said it was unlikely Contemplacion was strong
\nenough to have inflicted the injuries they found on Maga's body.<\/p>\n
Medical examiners from Singapore and the United States are due
\nin Manila this week to conduct another examination of Maga's
\nremains.<\/p>\n
Ramos has already ordered nine officials suspended, including
\nambassador to Singapore Alicia Ramos, who is no relation, after
\nthe Manila inquiry said they had not done enough to save
\nContemplacion from the gallows.<\/p>\n
He has also ordered the preparation of criminal charges
\nagainst them.<\/p>\n
Contemplacion has in death become a symbol of the more than
\nfour million Filipinos forced to find work overseas because wages
\nare so low at home and jobs so scarce.<\/p>\n
Filipino migrant workers say they frequently face abuse from
\nemployers, their rights trampled on by their host governments and
\nalmost total neglect from aloof Filipino consular officials.<\/p>\n
Singapore -- Page 11<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rp-foreign-minister-resigns-over-flor-case-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }