News Release
December 19, 2007
Reference: Fr. Benjamin Alforque, President, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, email: nafconusa@gmail.com
SENTOSA 27++ TO SPITZER: "APPOINT A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR FOR THE AVALON 10!"
New York-- The criminally-charged nurses within the Sentosa 27++
stood firm and united during last Monday's criminal court appearance at
a State Supreme Courthouse in Suffolk County when faced with measures
taken by the Assistant District Attorney advise that they take on
separate legal counsels. The Avalon 10, and their criminally-charged
lawyer, Felix Vinluan, have been leading a popular campaign to appeal
to New York Governor Elliot Spitzer to appoint a Special Prosecutor
independent of the Suffolk County's District Attorney's (DA) office in
Long Island.
"We are very concerned that anyone affiliated with District
Attorney Thomas Spota will not afford us a fair and objective trial,"
stated Vinluan. "This has been an uphill battle wherein all signs point
to the reality that the Sentosa camp is working in collusion with
Senator Charles Schumer, and other local government officials. These
political ties yield power and influence to the multi-million dollar
Sentosa camp and disenfranchise us of our rights as immigrants."
The nurses claim that a Spota trial would establish a strong
anti-immigrant and pro-Sentosa bias was further substantiated by the
fact that before the indictment, Spota had a series of private meetings
with the principals of Avalon Gardens, the Riverhead nursing home owned
and managed by SentosaCare LLC.
Despite standing firm that all nurses were satisfied being
represented by one legal counsel for the course of their criminal
trial, Attorney James Druker, it was evident Judge Robert Doyle felt
compelled to advise them seek more than one attorney for the case.
"These are divide-and-rule tactics," stated Rico Foz, Executive
Vice President of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns or
NAFCON. "It is not beyond the Sentosa camp and the Suffolk District
Attorney to seek to weaken the unity of the Avalon 10 by dividing them
up by legal counsels. We admire the example of the nurses' unity at
this critical time."
Vinluan had advised that the nurses had the due right to resign
after working for more than a year under violated employment contracts
and after suffering intolerable workplace abuse. SentosaCare LLC owner
Bent Philipson retaliated by filing criminal charges against the 10
nurses for patient endangerment, while Vinluan was charged with
tortious interference.
"This is not just about the rights of immigrant nurses, but the
rights of lawyers to offer their clients sound legal advise are also
being called to question," Vinluan defended.
The Avalon 10 maintain that none of their patients faced
endangerment and that they fully resigned only after completing their
shifts and making sure the incoming nurses were already in. Since then,
the Sentosa 27++, along with the National Alliance for Filipino
Concerns (NAFCON), have launched an international campaign for justice
and to shutdown the fraudulent and illegal operations of SentosaCare
LLC and the Sentosa Recruitment Agency in Manila.
The nurses and Vinluan maintain the immediate battlefront at this
point, before the January 28th start date of the criminal trial, is to
convince Spitzer to appoint a Special Prosecutor before then. A
letter-writing campaign to Spitzer has already been launched by NAFCON,
the New York Nurses Association (NYSNA), the American Nurses
Association (ANA), the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), Region 1 of
the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA), as
well as the California Nurses Association (CNA).
Commmunity members are encouraged to also send letters to Governor
Spitzer by faxing him at 518-474-1513, or emailing him by clicking onto
http://161.11.121.121/govemail. (Click here to copy petition letter to be sent to Gov. Elliot Spitzer)
"Justice will be challenged if Sentosa has already bought-off the
Suffolk County Court System before the criminal trial even starts," Foz
emphasized. ###
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For more information, please contact National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON)
at nafconusa@yahoo.com or email admin@s27plus.com.
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News Release
December 12, 2007
Reference: Rico Foz, Executive Vice President, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), email: nafconusa@yahoo.com
Community Gathering Calls for Support for Sentosa 27++
Forum Between Advocates & Consuls Fields Discrepancies Over Political Intervention, Funding
New York-- The broad and community-based Justice for the Sentosa 27++ campaign held a public forum last night at the Philippine Consulate in Manhattan. Present at the function were the nurses themselves, the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), the Philippine Nurses Association, Consul General Cecilia Rebong and her staff, as well as Region 1 of the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA). The purpose of the well-attended gathering was to clarify outstanding questions on the campaign and re-orient the community on the basic facts of the Sentosa 27++ case.
After a brief opening by Consul Rebong, NAFCON spokesperson Rico Foz and Sentosa 27++ nurse Elmer Jacinto took to the podium to deliver an orientation on the Justice for the Sentosa 27++ campaign and present the basic facts of the case. Foz acknowledged the leadership role of NAFCON answering to the nurses plea for help and forming a campaign framework that has already garnered small victories, including a Philippine Senate hearing and lower House hearing to investigate the alleged illegal recruitment case against the Sentosa Recruitment Agency (SRA). NAFCON's leadership and mobilization power also forced the office of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to disburse Php 1,000,000 for the nurses' legal aid.
"We came on board at a time no one was answering to the nurses' case," Foz stated, also calling on members of the campaign's steering committee to stand up in the audience.
Foz and Jacinto were followed by Felix Vinluan, the attorney who advised the Sentosa 27++ they had the right to resign and eventually filed discrimination cases for the nurses with the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Special Counsel (OSC). For his services, Sentosa filed criminal charges against 10 of the nurses for patient abandonment, while also filing charges against Felix for so-called "tortious interference".
Vinluan cited "political interference" on the hands of then Philippine Secretary Mike Defensor that led to the lifting of the suspension order placed against SRA by Philippine Overseas Employment Agency Adminsitrator Rosalinda Baldoz. He also cited the same call by Defensor was placed to Rebong shortly afterwards. When questioned in the open forum, Rebong denied knowing of SentosaCare LLC owner Bent Philipson's political connections to Defensor and US Senator Charles Schumer.
Still on the defensive, Rebong was also questioned on the supposed Php 1,000,000 promised to the nurses by the office of the Philippine President, since only Php 100,000 has been received by the nurses.
"The claim of Php 1,000,000 is a mistake. We do not know how that amount was declared," stated Rebong and Vice Consul Leandro Lachica.
Rebong and Lachica were later openly refuted by Foz, who insisted the amount was taken directly from a transcript of a testimony from a representative of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) during the recent Philippine Senate hearing, to which Defensor, Baldoz, and SRA owner Francis Luyun did not show up. A successful picket of the SRA office at the Ortigas Center was also launched by the nurses' families in Manila.
The session concluded with a call to action to support the nurses, including the call to pressure New York State Governor Elliott Spitzer to appoint a Special Prosecutor to ensure a fair and objective trial and the call to mobilize in support for the 10 nurses criminally charged with patient abandonment and Vinluan, also known as the Avalon 11. A criminal hearing for the Avalon 11 will be held Monday, December 17th, in Suffolk County, Long Island. Transportation for community members interested in supporting the nurses is being arranged and open to all.
For more information or join the December 17th support contingent, contact NAFCON at nafconusa@yahoo.com. ###
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