P-Noy tells Cabinet members: Insensitivity irks me

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has warned members of his official family about how they would get his ire: “Make me feel you don’t give a damn.”

During Friday night’s tribute to persons and groups who contributed to the country’s fight against human trafficking, the President said he could not take government officials who come to him without knowing anything about the responsibilities they should fulfill as public servants.

He said he was happy to be handing a presidential citation to Zamboanga City Assistant City Prosecutor Darlene Pajarito, who was recently recognized by the US State Department as one of the Global Trafficking in Persons Heroes for 2011.

During the program, 12 organizations and individuals were awarded special citations for their efforts in battling human trafficking in the country.

“If you want me to flare up, make me feel you don’t care,” the President said in Filipino.

Aquino’s favorite example of a government official who did not care about his fellow Filipinos was an ambassador who could not even give him the number of Filipinos that must be assisted in the country where he was assigned when trouble broke out.

“How could we save them if you did not know? You didn’t care to know how many you’re supposed to be serving there,” he said, referring to the ambassador.

“You will take the responsibility, you like the perks but when you have to be depended on, why is it like that? You don’t care,” Aquino said.

He said he found time to meet the anti-trafficking heroes, especially Pajarito, because “she cares.”

The President said Pajarito entered into litigation without any experience but won her cases despite this and death threats.

He said it was also easy to make him happy and that would be for his officials to show they were delivering on their duties and even making their own initiatives to perform better.

“Of course when we see each other, I am always smiling,” Aquino said.

The President said he was criticized by some groups of overseas Filipino workers for openly talking about his dream to make every Filipino stay and work in his own country. But he said this was still his ambition as he would like to have equal opportunity for everyone in the Philippines.

“I really feel bad when a Filipino abuses another Filipino,” he said, vowing to put an end to human trafficking in the country.

The President noted that while there were Filipinos still leaving for abroad to seek greener pastures, his administration would not let human traffickers victimize them.

He said this was the reason why conviction of those involved in human trafficking was important.

“The law against human trafficking will not be allowed to be corrupted by influential people,” he said, adding that concerned government agencies had been instructed to work together to fight the menace.

The coordination between government agencies and non-government organizations have resulted to the removal of the Philippines from the Tier 2 Watch list of the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report released by the US government last month.

The report recognized the significant efforts being undertaken by the Philippine government to combat trafficking in persons such as the almost 200-percent increase in convictions of traffickers, including convictions for labor trafficking.

The country has started to make gains economically and Aquino said that in the near future no underage Filipinos will be allowed to leave the country to work and become victim of human traffickers.

The President said “slavery” among the Filipino people had come to an end and urged everyone to tread the straight path toward progress.

He recognized Pajarito’s steadfast dedication in her prosecutorial efforts to fight human trafficking in the country with the help of different agencies, such as the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.

Pajarito was given the 2011 Hero Acting to End Modern Day Slavery Award by the US State Department, headed by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Washington, and is the only Filipino in the State Department’s 10 Trafficking-in-Person Heroes.

Others who received presidential recognition Friday include former Bureau of Immigration (BI) official Ronaldo Ledesma, BI legal head Arvin Santos, BI intelligence head Maria Antonette Mangrobang, Anti-Human Trafficking Division of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) head Dante Bonoan and Ninoy Aquino International Airport general manager Jose Angelo Honrado.

Among the groups given presidential citations were the End Child Prostitution and Trafficking, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific, International Justice Mission, Visayan Forum Foundation Inc. National Interagency Task Force Against Trafficking, Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force of Cebu City, Sea Based Anti-Trafficking Task Force of Zamboanga City and the NBI-AHTRAD.