Will the WHO Waiver Diplomatic Immunity of Suspected Child Rapist?

Andrew was a frail, malnourished 12 year-old kid when Willy, a 21 year-old pimp, told him last May 8 that "Doctor Daddy" was "in" and waiting for him. Andrew knew what he had to do. He went with Willy by bus to a pick-up point and then walked to a parked Silver Mazda with heavily tinted windows and got in.

A short drive later, they were parked in the Amorsolo basement (translated as Only-One-Love) and the doctor, an official of the United Nations World Heath Organization (WHO) began his nightly ritual of sexually abusing the young boy. It was not the first time but one of many. According to Willy, his trusted pimp, over the past seven years "Doctor Daddy" has had regular nightly sexual encounters with young boys between the ages of 11 and 15. He paid the boys about US$5. Neither "Doctor Daddy" nor his victims can be named under anti-trafficking laws.

The arrest of the 47 year-old suspect from Sydney came about after a tip-off from a television investigative group, GMA7 Imbestigador, who were making a documentary on child abuse, some of which was filmed at the Preda Children's Home a few days previously. On 9 May 2009, Imbestigador broadcast an interview with this writer.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group's Women and Children's Protection Division (CIDG-WCPD) responded to the information supplied by the TV investigators and followed his car to the basement parking lot. They opened the doors and found a half-naked boy beside the suspect. The pimp was in the back seat.

Five more child victims from the same district of Pasay City have come forward to identify "Doctor Daddy" as their abuser. Senior Supt. Theresa Ann Cid, Chief of CIDG-WCPD said she will file charges with the prosecutor's office. This case is a serious dilemma for the WHO. It is totally committed to protecting children and abhors child sexual abuse yet the suspect has UN WHO diplomatic immunity. Unless the WHO waivers his diplomatic immunity the suspect cannot be charged, but will they do it?

The Philippine government under President Macapagal-Arroyo is very reluctant to prosecute foreigners or even to uphold the convictions of foreigners who rape Filipinos, national dignity and pride as a sovereign nation notwithstanding. The recent acquittal on appeal of a US serviceman, Daniel Smith, convicted and sentenced to life for rape is just one example. Prosecuting foreigners is really bad for business. Government officials and politicians who represent the big families and their business empires are striving to make the Philippines a welcoming and attractive place for foreign investors, even if many of them are sexually exploiting vulnerable Filipino women and children.

The purpose of government in the Philippines today is not to protect the people from harm and hurt but to see that the business interests of the ruling elite and their international partners prosper. As elections draw close, they need to raise billions to be re-elected and continue protecting their ascendancy and crony capitalism.

The politicians, especially those in the tourist and property business abhor the media spectacle of foreigners on trial in Philippine courts. Not because such prosecutions expose the sordid tolerance and encouragement they give to the sex mafia and the international pimping industry, but because trials of pedophiles and sex tourists drive away business investors. The law is for show not for implementation. Thousands of Filipino teenagers are trafficked, sold and raped weekly in the sex bars and karaoke joints that have sprung up everywhere. Hardly any of the operators or customers are ever brought to trial despite many complaints filed against them by their victims.

We need a sustained international campaign to protest against the daily sexual exploitation of women and children, not a protest reserved for one or two isolated cases. Besides high profile cases like those of "Doctor Daddy" and Daniel Smith, there are hundreds more that need to be exposed and prosecuted. There has to be a change in public policy to protect vulnerable children at all costs, even where this protection costs the elite money moguls a lot of tourist dollars. With an election looming, that is not likely.