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.

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."