National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada
Media Release

Filipino women in Canada condemn surrender of convicted rapist to US

January 8, 2007

An advocacy group of Filipino women in Canada condemned in a statement released today Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s, “utter betrayal of ‘Nicole’ and of the Filipino people” by surrendering a convicted US marine rapist to US custody.

On December 29, 2006 US Lance Corporal Daniel Smith who was convicted of raping a Filipino woman in 2005 was removed from a Philippine prison and released back to the custody of the US Embassy.

“Smith’s release back to US custody is illegal and immoral,” says Cecilia Diocson, Executive Director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada. “Once again Arroyo’s actions prove her complete servitude to US interests and unwillingness to protect Filipino women and children from violence from foreign aggressors,” she added.

In the statement, the group cited the reported bias of the government’s prosecution team during the trial as well as the reported pressure tactics of the US government in the case. They called Arroyo’s actions a “direct contradiction and violation of the decision made by Judge Benjamin Pozon,” who convicted Smith of the non-bailable crime of rape and sentenced him to 40 years in a Philippine jail.

“We are not surprised, however that Arroyo would release the criminal rapist back to her US masters,” said Diocson. “For the many Filipino women who have been exported to live and work in Canada, we know from our own experience that Arroyo is more interested in our dollar remittances than protecting us from violence,” she added.

Since the 1980s nearly 100,000 Filipino women have come to Canada to work as live-in caregivers under Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) and Foreign Domestic Movement program.

The NAPWC along with academics and the media have documented the many forms of abuse women under the LCP face in Canada including physical, emotional and sexual abuse, economic de-skilling, marginalization and the trauma of family separation and reunification. They say the Philippine government has done nothing to protect or fight for the rights and welfare of migrant workers in Canada.

In the statement the group called on all Filipino and Canadian women to unite against rape and all forms of violence against women and against US wars of aggression and intervention in countries like the Philippines. They called for nationwide protest actions in the coming weeks in front of the Philippine and US consulate offices to protest the US-backed Arroyo regime.

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For more information, please contact:

Vancouver: Hetty Alcuitas, Philippine Women Centre of BC, ph: 604-215-1103 Montreal: Joanne Vasquez, Philippine Women Centre of Quebec, ph: 514-659-4300 Toronto: Joy Sioson, Philippine Women Centre of Ontario, ph: 416-878-8772