It`s raining. Thick clouds are hanging over the holiday island of Cebu like a damp cloth. The city prion at Mandaue is a fortress of barbed wire and  concrete. 600 prisoners are living here, squeezed into small cells each of which is shared by 14 detainess. Guilliard is the only one to have a cell to  himself. Ceiling fans stir the January heat above the inmates: murderes, rapists, conmen, slave tradres, thieves, and a few poor devils who haven`t  been able to afford a lawyer, while nobody really knows why they`ve been locked up at all – and then the German. In actual fact the evidence speaks  for him: witnesses have attested to his innocence. But that doesn`t interest anybody here, not the lady judge, not even his lawyers. He`s got to  prove his own innocence, they say. How ? Goodness knows. This is almost unbearable, he says, both mentally and physically. In the cell blocks it  stinks of urine, stale sweat and filth. Most of the time he reads, occasionally he has a look at Maischberger or Beckmann on satellite TV, or swots up  English and Filipino. Guilliard wants get on with his life. Mandaue is a kind of limbo.

Joachim Guilliard moved to the Philippines five years ago because he was fed up with cold, cloistered Germany. He was rich, having sold the firm which he owned. He wanted to spend the autumn of his life in the tropics, indulging his passion for diving, living without any worries in his smart villa with its private beach and swimming pool. Maybe he would invest some money in a holiday complex, just for the fun of it. The island of Cebu seemed like the very opposite of Germany, a paradise for dropouts and pensioners. Plenty of sunshine, beaches of white sand, beautiful girls hanging around in bars, coconut palms. Here he found other like-minded people who were bringing Germany overseas. One of these cultivated Guilliard`s favour and become his friend.

They went around together, visiting people, drinking cocktails in bars, grilling fish in Guilliard`s verandah. This friend was keen on setting up restaurants and bars of his own, but he needed money, lots of it.

Guilliard helped him out, sometimes with two million pesos, sometimes five. Again and again. „I don`t need to worry at all about money,“ he says. He wanted to help his friend. In the end he had invested some twenty million pesos, more than three hundred thousand euros, in another person`s dreams. Eventually he asked for his money back; almost immediately he was confronted by the police. They said he was intending to force young girls into prostitution in his friends bars. Now kindly come along and make a statement, they said. It`s just some kind of a mix-up, thought Guilliard, and he went along with them. Then he was thrust into a cell – without any arrest warrant, without his having made any statement, and without any interpreter to translate the accusations.

„I`ve never got into trouble in my life, I`m well off, I have a good reputation and I have a daughter of my oqn. It had to be simply a misunderstanding,“ says Guilliard, nine months later. „Why would I do such a thing ? In a bar which doesn`t even belong to me ?“ There are witnesses who have confirmed he is innocent – barmaids, waitresses, clerks.

In the meantime two judges have been superseded on grounds of partiality, while his lawyers are constandly demanding more fees, even though they themselves can hardly understand the complex laws relating to foreigners. Nothing has changed in his situation. Nobody tells him anything. All that is left to him is uncertainty. Guilliard continues to fork out, what else can he do.

A thin man is standing in front of the prison gate. He`s in a hurry. He is wearing a striped shirt and dark trousers, his face looks somewhat worn. In his hand he holds a briefcase with treasure inside – written permission from the Philippine Government to visit foreigners in prison alone, without supervision. Alfred Lehnert is head of the Foreign Assistance Center (FAC), a voluntary advice service for foreigners. Lehnert fights to get innocent foreigners out of jail – free of charge. He survives from day to day on donations. The angel of the prisoners is what they call him in Manila.

Lehnert fights a lone battle. True, the German Embassy hands any German Citizen who is arrested a list of lawyers, and supplies medicine for anyone who falls ill, but it doesn`t otherwise get involved. Only three times has anyone from the Embassy phoned Joachim Guilliard to ask how he is. „Three times in nine months!“ grumbles Guilliard, who feels he`s been left in the lurch. At present thisteen Germans are lingering in Philippine prisons. Over the last three years the 60-years old Lehnert has got sixty foreigners out of various prisons – German, Arabs, Canadians, New Zealanders, on one occasion he saved three Burmese refugees from deportation. Most of them had fallen out with a business partner or a wife keen to embezzle their investments, their wealth, their villas and yachts.

„You can buy witness statements for a couple of thousand pesos, that`s fifty euros,“ Lehnert explains. „Three of those are enough to get an unloved husband or a stubborn investor put away.“ The charges are always the same – infidelity, maltreatment of children, fake visas. Allegations as flabbergasting as a punch in the stomach – and difficult to disprove, too. Just as in Guilliard`s case. Soon the two men are sitting face to face in the German`s cell.

„Keep your chin up, Joachim ! We`ll soon get you out of here,“ exclaims Lehnert, clapping Guilliard on the shoulder.  „Alfred, I can`t stand it any longer. I can`t bear it !“

They confer about Guilliard`s case for two hours, discussing details, working out strategies to convince the judge and persuade her to set Guilliard free at last. Lehnert comforts him, gives him advice, promises help. „Joachim it`s only a question of time, and then you`ll be out of here.“ guilliard shakes his head. His shoulders are drooping. He lost all faith in his fellow beings long ago. Hope ? Any hope there is will only be dashed later on, he mutters. There`s a huge gap between German ideas of justice and Philippine reality. They`re two different worlds which have nothing to do with each other. And there`s no such thing as a quick fix. 

But his freedom had been won at a cost. While in detension his hair fell out, his sight deteriorated. Images of prison still flash through his dreams. His fortune was also squandered, spent on lawyers, trials and media campaigns. His wife had sold all his property and emigrated to holland with the money, taking their daughter wirh her. No right to compensation exists in the Philippines. Lehnert decided to stay on nonetheless, and start again from scratch - „I had nothing more to lose.“ He founded the Foreign Assistance Center (FAC)“ to fight for foreigners threatened by the same fate as mine.“ Germans in particular. Now Lehnert advices the Philippine Government on issues relating to foreigners, plays tennis with Ministers, has married a high ranking policewomen and helped draft an improved law on foreign residents. The old law was 69 years old, having been drawn up by US President Roosevelt in 1941, as part of the martial law framework, while the Philippines were a foreigners also have rights. Especially so that they can entice investors into the Country.“ He was once rich, but now he says he is happy to have found something „worth fighting for“.

Lehnert travels in a Taxi through the narrow streets of Cebu, past modern buildings of concrete and glass and ramshackle huts. Omnibus Taxi honk pedestrians out of their way, a smell of roast chicken floats in the air, love songs blare out of open windows. Lehn ert is going to visit some former clients. At the end of side street, on a hill with a view of the sea, 73-year-old Alfred Becker occupies a ground floor flat. A lukewarm wind is blowing in through the window, a glass of iced tea stands on the table, bad news from Haiti is being shown on the television. Becker`s young Filipino girlfriend Kezia is resting her hand on his knee. He tries to say a sentence in broken English, resorts to gesturing with his hands as the sentence breaks down. Kezia looks at him, smiling. His previous wife wanted to get him deported so that she could take over his flats, which were registered in her name, Becker explains. „The lying serpent actually maintained that I`d raped my daughter,“ says Becker, serving his guest small sausages with potato salad. Lehnert took on his case and won. He hands Becker a document acquitting him of guilt and permitting him to continue living in the Philippines.

The same thing happened to Fritz Strahl as to Becker. Sixty kilometres north of Cebu City, in Carmen, the 65-year-old says goodbuy to his life`s dream. He is standing in the garden of his seaside villa grilling tuna fish, with a bottle of San Miguel beer in his hand. He tells the same old story about a man who falls in love – or what appeared to be love – with an exotic women, a women looking for a short cut to riches. His wife ran off with another man after thirteen years of marriage, and made accusations against him in order to get her hands on the land which they jointly owned. Strahl had been sitting in the back seat of a car heading for the airport, wearing handcuffs, when Lehnert, having intervened with the head of the Foreigners Department, got him a last minute reprieve from deportation.

Lehnert`s ally in the battle against arbitrariness and corruption is Commissioner Marcelino C. Libanan, head of the Immigration Department. He is a heavily built man with spectacles and a Charles Bronson haircut, who describes himself as a „Boy Scot who upholds the law“, a ukulele is lying in his lap. „A decent fellow,“ says Lehnert. They meet once a week in Libanan`s office in the old quarter of Manila – to exchange news, to identify loopholes in the law which need plugging, to discuss ceses, or simply because Lehnert once again needs Libanan`s signature on a discharge document. Sometimes they just chat about family life.

Libanan took over the department from his predecessor three years ago. At that time it was known as one of the most corrupt offices in the country, with a licence for getting rich quick. During his time in office Libanan has turned it into one of the most exemplary offices, and of that he is proud. What has happened to foreign guests is a scandal. We`re not a crime syndicate any more. No more people are being thrown into prison without charge so that other can get rich. The times of greed and corruption in this department are past, says Libanan, holding up his right hand as if taking an oath. But if it wasn`t for Alfred`s struggle for justice nothing would probably have changed. Alfred Lehnert sips his coffee and smiles.

Meanwhile in Mandaue prison fate is dealing Joachim Guilliard some more blows. His girlfriend has confessed that she`s in love with another man. His lawyer still doesn`t know what to do next, and is asking for more money. Alfred Lehnert has been unable to contact the judge in charge of the case – apparently she is away on a business trip of indeterminate duration. Nobody is able to say whether or when Guilliard is to be released. Lehnert is furious. Someone`s life is being destroyed, and nobody cares ! He says, slapping his thigh with his hand. He is on the phone all the time, contacting clients, judges, politicains, lawyers. Then he goes to see his old friend Cardinal Vidal. Maybe the good cleric can do something with the lady judge, exert some influence. While he is traveling up the long drive of the cardinal`s residence, his phone rings. At the other end of the line is case number 61. another German is languishing in bicutan prison for foreigners, a diving instructor who has overstayed his visa by nine months. Alfred Lehnert clutches his head, but promises to help. The man was released from custody eight days later.

Resourse Philippine Press release 4. May 2010

The new Anti-Corruption policy of the Immigration Authority

Since Marcelino C. Libanan, the Philippine immigration Authorities took over as Commissioner in May 2007, was from the previously notorious corruption authority a prime example of the Anti-Corruption Authority. For this he received recognition not only domestically, but also earned international respect for its new Anti-Corruption Policy. Finally, the FAC owed by their new policy of immigration whose successes. As years Congressman M.C Libanan had various posts, including as Vice Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Communications or Chairman of the new Immigration Bill in Congress. At the time when Mr. Libanan the new immigration law organized, he met Alfred Lehnert In many discussions on the realignment of the Immigration Act and its sections, has been discussed sometimes violently on its interpretation and gained a relation of trust.

On the personal Invitation of former Justice Secretary Simon Datumanong and Chairman of the Committee of Justice in the House of Representative, Alfred Lehnert was invited to the Congress, to bring about his position paper on the New Immigration Act. Through this fruitful collaboration developed a mutual trust relationship that is reflected in the many successes. 

How then did the Release, and their Non-Extradition (deportation) to Burma?

After two unsuccessful applications, Mr. Lehnert was able to win the famous Bishop of the Wesleyan Church of the Philippines and the Law firm Romeo Dolleton in Laguna, that ensured the three Myanmars a guarantee. The Commissioner M.C. Libanan then allowed by the Executive Law, the release on humanitarian grounds.

The Story of Japanese Kazuya Fujii 

23. August 2009 - FAC Technical Writer

Alfred Lehnert recommended as Ambassador

Ex-BI chief's bid to reduce bail in illegal-detention case opposed

THE government has opposed a motion filed by former Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo seeking the reduction of the P40,000 bail set by the Second Division of the Sandiganbayan in an arbitrary, detention case filed against her by the Office of the Ombudsman. Prosecutors Rodrigo Coquia and Annielyn Medes Cabelis asked the anti graft court to deny Domingo's motion for lack of basis. "Aside from being the former commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation, and former congresswoman of Pampanga, accused is currently the general manager and chief executive officer of the Public Reclamation Authority [formerly Public Estates Authority]. Considering the government positions held and currently occupied by the accused, she is financially capable to pay the P40,000 bail previously fixed by the Honorable Court," they said. In addition, Coquia and Cabelis said the amount of bail is recommended by law under Article 124 of the Revised Penal Code because the offense is punishable by reclusion temporal equivalent to a jail term of 12 to 20 years.
Domingo was accused, along with Immigration intelligence officers II Maynard Marinas and Arthur Solito III, and Mandaue City prison warden Elmer Napilot, of causing the illegal detention of Alfred Lehnert Jr., a German national residing in the Philippines for a period of one year and six months.

GERMAN TV exposes RP cruelty to foreigners

Monday, August 15, 2005 - by BOO CHANCO

Their national election is set for next month. But the German people are undecided on whether they want a new way of addressing their problems or have more of the same muddling through approach. The International Herald Tribune talks of "a kind of head-heart divide tearing at the collective consciousness." I am more and more seeing a lot of us in them.
In their heads, an article in the IHT observed, the Germans know that the Red-Green coalition has failed abysmally to lower unemployment and restart the economy, so in their heads they are for Merkel. "They also know that reforms are necessary and they are for them, in theory, but reforms make them anxious, so they yearn for the devil they know, Schröder." The German dilemma fascinates me. It almost sounds like what haunts us here at home. And it is this fascination that made me explore the far end of Sky Cable's spectrum of cable channels and ended up with Deutsche Welle, the German channel. Deutsche Welle isn't quite the BBC but it is close to it. It is seen all over the world in over 30 languages.
Wednesday evening last week, I thought myself lucky to hear an announcement of an English language program about the Philippines. So I stayed on, wondering what I was about to see about my country from a German perspective.
The title sounded ominous enough, "Imprisoned in Paradise". As it turned out, it was about how Philippine immigration officials maltreated four Germans, keeping them imprisoned for up to three years in a pigsty of a detention facility, on what the program called trumped up charges.

I was deeply troubled, perhaps even devastated, by the program. I wondered to myself, is that my country they are talking about ? That sounds more like a horror story out of Mugabe's Zimbabwe, not in Ate Glo's Philippines....
I have heard and read a lot of bad articles and reports on the Philippines but this one was the worst I can remember, partly because I know the bureaucratic corruption it denounced was true and also because human suffering arising-out of injustice always arouses universal sympathy. Then too, as a journalist, I thought Deutsche Welle's reporters got a bit carried away, neglecting other perspectives necessary for basic fairness.
The feature was about the story of four German's imprisoned by our Immigration commission for a variety of charges ranging from alleged sexual harassment to overstaying their visas and working without a permit, Filipinos, the narrator said, quoting one of the Germans, think of foreigners as piggy banks to be exploited and blackmailed for cash, or words to that effect I thought Filipinos are a hospitable and friendly people. Has the deterioration of our national character gone this far ? Any decent person viewing the report would sympathize with the plight of the imprisoned Germans. Whatever violations of our laws they are accused of, throwing them in the filthy immigration jail in Camp Bagong Diwa for as long as three years, as in the case of a German husband and wife, is punishment that is grossly over and above what is called for.

The report however, noted a saving grace for our government. One of these Germans was actually freed by our Supreme Court who found his incarceration unjust and illegal. At least our judicial system works. But even here, it came too late to save his marriage to a Filipina who has run away to Europe with their daughter while he was in jail. The report was also rather harsh to the German Embassy, whose officials were accused of not caring enough to lend a hand to their troubled nationals. Unfortunately, the report did not get side of the Embassy, as any world class journalistic enterprise should have.
But in fairness to the Deutsche Welle report, it credits incumbent Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez of trying to clean up the Augean stables left by his predecessors. The report accused a previous Commissioner of becoming a very rich person by institutionalizing a racket that victimizes foreigners for real and imagined violations of immigration laws.

I know that government office is dirty but still, that accusation was shocking to me. I know that commissioner from our college days. I can't imagine her turning into the devil incarnate that the report said she has become. I expected Deutsche Welle, a world class television organization, to have required the report's producer to produce proof and to get her side. None of those were incorporated in the report. I dread to imagine the horrible image of the Filipino painted to a wide international audience by this special television report. A German or any other non Filipino national watching the report abroad must think we are uncivilized brutes, no better than wild animals fighting for survival by victimizing innocent foreigners.

Worse, how can a country that sends over 8 million of its nationals abroad, treat foreigners this way ? Indeed, how can we now complain about our OFWs being maltreated abroad when we ourselves treat foreigners in our country with such cruelty ?
I gutless treating foreigners as fair garner for extortion and cruelty is possible because they are not voters our political leaders, including our national leadership, feel an obligation to look after. Indeed, many in our lawentorcement units see them as piggy banks to hassle, and profit from !


That attitude is of course, very unchristian. The Bible teaches us to be particularly considerate of foreigners, because as our Lord reminded the Israelites, they were foreigners too in Egypt. How dare we call ourselves the only Christian country in Asia and allow this travesty to happen.
Forget attracting tourists here if that image of the Filipinos sticks. No foreigner would feel safe. Potential foreign visitors would think that anyone silly enough to come here risks having a nightmare of an experience in a Mugabe like country. As the German television report suggested, our country should have been a paradise, were it not for some of the people who inhabit it.
The sipadan and Dos Palmas hostage taking sagas, still fresh in the minds of the international community, were bad enough but not as despicable as state sanctioned cruelty. Terrorism will not scare tourists away because the problem is not exclusive to us. But cruelty to foreigners, for whatever reason, even legal reasons, presents us in the worse possible light to the world.
Ate Glo should know that since her picture is prominently displayed in the offices featured in the report, the stink reflects on her person too.

Ate Glo should instruct the Justice department and the Immigration Commission to clean up their treatment of foreigners right away. Those with minor violations like overstaying their visas( after all, Pinoys do this with impunity abroad ) shouldn't be treated like criminals and made to languish in filthy jails. Immediate deportation is more acceptable. But above all, Commissioner Fernandez should be given full support in cleaning out his office of mission audit our treatment of foreign prisoners. I think the Ombudsman should request a copy of the Deutsche Welle report and do something about it. It was shown to a world audience and we have an obligation to ourselves and to our children to clean up the Filipino,s image in the family of nations.
Source: Boo Chanco. His E-Mail address is bchanco@gmail.com

PR Immigration gang may be the biggest crime syndicate in Asia 

A group at the immigration bureau involved in illegal activities may turn out to be the "biggest and most organized crime syndicate" in Asia whose funds may "dwarf (that) of any terrorist group or drug cartel in the region," a lawmaker revealed yesterday.
"The most notorious and grossly appalling act of this syndicate is setting free terrorists, members or high-ranking bosses of international drug organizations and criminals who committed crimes against our people," Rep. Robert"Ace" Barbers said yesterday.
The administration congressman earlier exposed what he said was the unlawful deportation in May 2005 of suspected terrorist Vo Van Duc, an American of Vietnamese descent, and Chinese Shang Du, who was facing charges of kidnapping for ransom, another non-bailable offense. Barbers vowed to unravel in the next few days the corrupt activities of immigration agents he accused of regularly extorting money from illegal aliens and facilitating fake visas for a "mind-boggling fee."
I will expose in the eves of the public and the world the biggest and most organized crime syndicate operating right under our noses, inside the Bureau of Immigration (BI)," he said in a statement.

Barbers said the funds earned by this syndicate on an annual basis and the total take from their operations for 15 years could dwarf the funds of any other terrorist group or drug cartel in the region. The Lakas stalwart disclosed that records he obtained from BI insiders even indicate an encroachment of the country's neighbors, as these scalawags operate " even outside of the country's borders."

"Fake entry visas are sold at a staggering amount of P 500.000 each to willing foreigners who want to come here for good or engage in illegal businesses. Tens of thousands of foreigners enter the country yearly this way," Barbers said.
From this alone, he said one could just imagine the amount involved. "For a mere 1.000 persons, that becomes P 500 million. This does not include the periodic shakedowns by agents when they are already in the country. This costs as much as P 250.000 each." This regular entry of very young foreigners in the pretext of being seamen who are going to board their fishing vessels here in South Harbor."
"There are thousands of them. While there are orders for their entry, there are none for their exists. Where are they now ? Perhaps the merchants in Divisoria, Binondo and Baclaran who cannot speak a single Tagalog word will give you a clue," Barbers hinted. These illegal aliens who regularly shell out money to corrupt immigration personnel "are the untouchables who cannot be apprehended."
Apart from milking the foreigners dry, 'Barbers disclosed that aliens have been "languishing" either in the BI detention cell or in Bicutan, only because they not coughed up money despite the issuance at deportation orders.

PINOY, the second time around

Sunday, July 29, 2007 - by Eden E. Estopace

WHAT IS THE COST OF FREEDOM ?

For Alfred Lehnert Jr., a German national who has been living in the Philippines for almost 14 years now, freedom has a steep price tag - almost a million dollars in life savings, three houses in Cebu and a family.

Short of losing even the shirt on his back, Lehnert lost almost everything he held precious, most especially his only daughter Nikki, now 11 years old and living with her mother in another country. Lehnert, a civil engineer from Germany, first came to the Philippines in 1993 with his wife to settle in Cebu City, in part because of doctors' advice for him to live in a tropical country.
As with many foreigners who chose to settle here with their Filipina wives, Lehnert says he was "welcomed with great hospitality." They settled in Cebu, had a daughter, built houses and had a life surrounded by the warmth of an extended family. "My daughter learned Bisaya and was happy with all the attention and love for children in a country, which is hard to find in Europe," Lehnert says in an EL Shaddai prayer meeting, where he was asked to share his life story. " I come to this country ...... with all my love and hope for my new homeland," he says, adding during the interview with STARWEEK, that he also brought with him other foreign investors who were convinced that investing in the Philippines is a good business proposition. But the fairytale took a bizarre turn and headed for hell instead.

On Sept. 27, 2002, while following up papers for his visa, Lehnert was arrested in Mandaue City by virtue of a mission order from the Bureau of Immigration to verify his immigration status and activities in the Philippines. The "verification process" lasted 17 months, during which time Lehnert languished in jail, was divorced by his wife, and lost all his property in the Philippines, including custody of his daughter.
Lehnert says he was denied bail, his case was never heard in court, and worse, the cases and complaints lodged against him piled up, reducing further his chances for release. He recounts that a highly organized criminal group had tried to extort money from him in exchange for his liberty. But he fought back and used all legal means to free himself from what he says was "arbitrary detention based on fabricated charges."

No foreigner must be detained for months or years on grounds of minor administrative charges, he stresses. If they violated the laws of the country, they must be deported - as in most countries - but not detained. The right bo bail while the charges are being heard in court is also a basic human right that should be accorded to foreigners, he says. And everybody must have a day in court to rebut the charges. "How can a foreigner be arrested and detained indefinitely without due legal process granted to the accused ?" Lehnert asks. On Feb. 26, 2004, the Supreme Court ordered Lehnert's release from arbitrary detention after finding that he was "illegally arrested and detained without warrant, without substantial proof and without due process." He was released in April 2004, one of the few foreigners who was ever released by the hight court in 60 years.

Staying for good

With no money, no family and no relatives here, Lehnert made a most surprising decision. He chose to stay in the Philippines for good. "Most foreigners released from detention leave the country because they are afraid of being rearrested," he says. But in his case, what more did he have to lose ? So he decided to stay and spend the rest of his life helping other foreign nationals in detention.
"I never lost my faith in God and the belief in myself to escape from a hopeless situation," he says. In fact, my way was blessed with so much success to give more hope to others with less chances.

Notwithstanding the months he spent in a detention facility with 200 other detainees, fed only twice a day with what he says was food with "absolutely no nutritional content or value," water, no beds or utensils and hostile armed guards, Lehnert chose to look at the bright side of things.
During his hight-profile legal battle and advocacy, he earned the support of government officials, high-ranking members of the Catholic hierarchy, the diplomatic community and friends he said he could never have met if his life had not turned for the worse, including then Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes, whom he met at a briefing for the repeal of Executive Order 287. At one time, no less than Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal had allowed him to speak on his prison experience. While in detention and after his release, Lehnert says he studied the Philippine immigration law with the help of San Carlos University Professor Alex Monteclar to lend a helping hand to foreigners in detention either through appeals for humanitarian grounds or simple evaluation of the law.
One case he helped resolve was that of a 68-year-old professor from Papua New Guinea who was very sick and had been detained in the country for five years. After his release from detention, he was sent home to Port Moresby though the help of donations. "A little help could go a long way," he says, adding that there are around 160 foreigners detained at the detention facilities of Bureau of Immigration. This does not include yet the foreigners convicted by legal courts and detained at the new Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa. His focus though is primarily foreigners detained for minor administrative violations.

After a year of freedom, and with no compensation received for his illegal detention, Lehnert's life story was made into a documentary and showed on German television. Shortly after, he was appointed as a consultant to the European Parliament to give advice on the plight of foreigners living in the Philippines, how the immigration law is implemented and what government should do to help their citizens.
Recognizing his work in the country and because of his knowledge and deep understanding of Philippine immigration law, Lehnert was also invited by the Philippine Congress in December 2006 to be part of a technical working group that will craft a new immigration act that aims to attract more investors to the county. Sadly, he says, the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 that is still in use today is outmoded and needs urgent revisions.

A new Chapter

By embracing a new life mission, Lehnert is now fully immersed in his advocacy for more justice and tolerance for foreigners living in the country. " My heart has no hate for our people, they work hard for their families," he says, referring to Filipinos in general, whom he now considers his own people.
Fortunately, Alfred Lehnert's story does have a happy ending. As a fitting closure to heal the deep wounds of the past, Lehnert met a woman he later married, with whom he hopes to rebuild his life and start another family, this time hopefully to live happily ever after.
During his wedding last month, Sec. Reyes stood as one of the sponsors, along with the couple's staunchest supporters. Isn't he afraid of marrying another Filipina after the bitter separation from his first wife ? " Of course not," he says. No two people are the same and he has only good words for his new bride, who is a graduate of the Philippine National Police Academy ( PNPA ) and was even awarded a scholarship to the Netherlands.
He calls her his "GENERAL", while she refers to him as her "ANGEL of JUSTICE."

The Sunday magazine of the Philippine STAR

29. July 2007 
Notwithstanding the months he spent in a detention facility with 200 other detainees, fed only twice a day with what he says was food with " absolutely no nutritional content or value," no safe drinking water, no beds or utensils and hostile armed guards, Lehnert chose to look at the bright side of things.
During his high-profile legal battle and advocacy, he earned the support of government officials, high-ranking members of the Catholic hierarchy, the diplomatic community and friends he said he could never have met if his life had not turned for the worse, including then Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes, whom he met at a briefing for the repeal of Executive Order 287. At one time, no less than Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal had allowed him to speak on his prison experience.
While in detention and after his release, Lehnert says he studied the Philippine immigration law with the help of San Carlos University Professor Alex Monteclar " to lend a helping hand to foreigners in detention either through appeals for humanitarian grounds or simple evaluation of the law."
One case he helped resolve was that of a 68-year-old professor from Papua New Guinea who was very sick and had been detained in the country for five years. After his release from detention, he was sent home to Port Moresby through the help of donations.

" A little help could go a long way," he says, adding that there are around 160 foreigners detained at the detention facilities of the Bureau of Immigration. This does not include yet the foreigners convicted by legal courts and detained at the new Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa. His focus though is primarily foreigners detained for minor administrative violations.

After a year of freedom, and with no compensation received for his illegal detention, Lehnert's life story was made into a documentary and showed on German television. Shortly after, he was appointed as a consultant to the European Parliament to give advice on the plight of foreigners living in the Philippines, how the immigration law is implemented and what governments should do to help their citizens. Recognizing his work in the country and because of his knowledge and deep understanding of Philippine immigration law, Lehnert was also invited by the Philippine Congress in December 2006 to be part of a technical working group that will craft a new immigration act that aims to attract more investors to the country.
Sadly, he says, the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 that is still in use today is outmoded and needs urgent revisions.

A new chapter

By embracing a new life mission, Lehnert is now fully immersed in his advocacy for more justice and tolerance for foreigners living in the country "My heart has no hate for our people, they work hard for their families," he says, referring to Filipinos in general, whom he now considers his own people. Fortunately, Alfred Lehnert's story does have a happy ending. As a fitting closure to heal the deep wounds of the past, Lehnert met a woman he later married, with whom he hopes to rebuild his life and start another family, this time hopefully to live happily ever after.

During his wedding last month, Sec. Reyes stood as one of the sponsors, along with the couple's staunchest supporters. Isn't he afraid of marrying another Filipina after the bitter separation from his first wife ? "Of course not," he says. No two people are the same and ne has only good words for his new bride, who is a graduate of the Philippine National Police Academy ( PNPA ) and was even awarded a schotarship to the Netherlands. He calls her his"general", while she refers to him as her "angel of justice."