Press Release
July 25, 2009

Pia: No to transfer of Guantanamo prisoners to RP

Senator Pia S. Cayetano today shot down proposals being floated for the possible transfer to the Philippines of prisoners from the United States' detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Ahead of the July 30 meeting between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and US Pres. Barack Obama, Cayetano said Malacanang should take a categorical position expressing disagreement to the idea of the Philippines "hosting" prisoners from Guantanamo.

Cayetano, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, said Mrs. Arroyo should instead take advantage of the opportunity to raise concerns related to the continued migration of Filipino professionals to the US.

"Being a Washington ally does not obligate the Philippines to share in the guilt and burden of the US over various documented cases of human rights abuses committed against several Guantanamo prisoners."

She further warned that hosting the prisoners could lead to the re-establishment of US military facilities in the country.

"The Guantanamo prisoners are prisoners of war. Hosting them will require prison facilities and American soldiers to guard them. So are we becoming a US base again?"

"Instead of allowing our country to become a 'dumping ground' by the US, this time of its prisoners, Mrs. Arroyo should focus on concerns related to valuable human resources that the US is sucking out of the Philippines."

"First to go were our nurses and doctors, then our IT professionals, and now our teachers. Mrs. Arroyo should bring the migration issue to the discussion table and open doors for possible negotiations to address our brain drain," added Cayetano, who is also President of the Committee of Women Parliamentarians in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Cayetano has been working with Filipino nurses' groups and top nursing schools in promoting mutually beneficial employment arrangements to encourage foreign governments and hospitals recruiting Filipino medical professionals to give something back to the country's health system and human resource. The assistance could come in the form of educational grants in medical and allied courses, and aid to health institutions and schools.

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