GABRIELA SEEKS PROBE A POEA DISMISSES SENTOSA CASE

NEWS RELEASE
13 SEPTEMBER 2007

For Reference: Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan 0920-9213221
Jang Monte (Public Information Officer) 09178226635

GABRIELA SEEKS PROBE A POEA DISMISSES SENTOSA CASE

As migrant workers, nurses and health professionals in the United
States protest over the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency's
dismissal of the case filed by the Sentosa 27, the women's partylist
group GABRIELA called for a Congressional inquiry on the alleged
irregularities of the POEA's handling of the case.

GABRIELA Women's Party Representative Luzviminda Ilagan has filed
House Resolution 181 which seeks to look into the POEA's arbitrary
lifting of the suspension order against the recruitment agency,
Sentosa, despite the complaints raised by 27 health professionals in
the United States .

Rep. Ilagan said that when the inquiry begins, they will thresh out
not just the suspension order but they shall likewise look into
irregularities in the recent POEA decision. "For one, POEA decided
to dismiss the case a year after the complaint has been filed when
in fact POEA rules and regulations dictate that decisions on illegal
recruitment cases should be relieased within 90 days."

Last April 2006, 26 nurses and a physical therapist filed charges
against the Sentosa-affiliated healthcare facilities that
individually sponsored them, and with which the nurses signed
employment contracts in the United States. They also filed charges
against Bent Philipson and Francis Luyun. Philipson is the common
COO and Managing Partner of the Sentosa-affiliated facilities while
Luyun is the proprietor of the Philippine-based Sentosa Recruitment
Agency. Luyun also works as international recruiter of the New York-
based Prompt Nursing Employment Agency, doing business as Sentosa
Services.

The GABRIELA solon also questioned the alleged political
interference which occurred, referring to the call made by US
Senator Charles Schumer to the POEA to lift its license suspension
against Sentosa. "There are so many issues that needs clarifications
in the Sentosa case."

"We have an economy that is surviving because of the remittances
being sent by Overseas Filipinos, including the nurses victimized by
scheming agencies like Sentosa. That we are unable to protect them
from illegal recruiters is a shame and guarantee just compensation
for the work that they do is a shame. Indeed it is high time that we
take action."#