Send Your Letters of Protest and Make a Stand

October 5, 2010
PRESS RELEASE
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde
School of the Deaf and Applied Studies
Contact: Giselle Montero gisellemontero@gmail.com
Or Mrs. Liwanag Caldito
Tel. 928-4182
Mobile 0916.7496139
Email liwcaldito@yahoo.com

Last October 4, Franklin Galano Corpuz was set to fly to Qatar via Qatar Airways QR 645 for orientation and business training with a company that has a program specifically for Persons with Disabilities or PWD. Mr. Corpuz is Deaf. In addition to the training he will gain, the said program leads to eventual employment. Franklin is skilled in cooking as well as making bread and baking pastries. He is also a professional driver and has worked with Sunshine Supermarket and Hotel Veniz in Baguio City. He is married and is the husband of the current Philippine Federation for the Deaf President, Mrs. Raquel Corpuz.

At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), after checking in, Franklin was accompanied by a Qatar Airways flight attendant to the Immigrations counter. Upon being told by the flight attendant that Mr. Corpuz is Deaf, the Immigrations counter officer directed him to the Bureau of Immigrations Office. Mr. Corpuz presented the following personal supporting papers:

* Affidavit of Support from Al Mana Interiors
* Invitation letter for the business training
* Visa from the Minister of Interior of the State of Qatar

He was interviewed by a male Immigrations officer who informed him that he will be disallowed to leave for Qatar because he is “deaf and therefore CANNOT SPEAK. Mr. Franklin Corpuz was then asked to leave the airport.

A call was made to the NAIA Immigrations Office. Ms. Gladys Castillo and Mr. Jeff Ignacio (administrative staff) received this call. They said that as a matter of policy, they are not allowed to release the name of the Immigrations Officer who interviewed Mr. Corpuz. Furthermore, Ms. Castillo said that any letter of complaint regarding this incident may be addressed and sent to Atty. Ronaldo Ledesma, OIC of the Bureau of Immigrations. Mr. Ignacio, on the other hand, added that in their Indicator Checklist for Offloading, the remarks were as follows: “No sufficient proof that his trip is for business to Qatar considering that he is deaf and mute. He said that it was not specified as to what proof or documentation was lacking.

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Updates:

Oct 6, 2010

The Department of Justice directed the Bureau of Immigration to check the operations division of the airport. The Bureau of Immigration OIC Rolando Ledesma investigated the airport operations division for the irregular decision they made to offload the Deaf passenger Franklin Delano Corpuz and the procedure done in terms to discredit the Deaf.

October 7, 2010

Mr. Corpuz was eventually allowed to leave on board Qatar flight QR 649 that left the NAIA at 10:40 am, Thursday, with the help of the training company in Qatar through the Philippine Embassy.

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Although Mr. Corpuz has already achieved what he set out to do, which is to fly to Qatar, we cannot merely dismiss the events that transpired. What happened is a direct violation of Mr. Corpuz's rights and is also gross negligence on the part of the officer.

We still urge you to send a letter protesting the discrimination shown by the Bureau of Immigration (BID) to a Deaf person. A Deaf person shares equal rights with any Hearing person and should be protected by the State in the fulfilment of his rights.

LETTERS OF PROTEST may be sent to:

Atty. Ronaldo Ledesma
OIC
Bureau of Immigrations
Magallanes Drive, Intramuros


Department Of Justice Action Center
Attn: Romeo D. Galvez dojac@doj.gov.ph
and soj@doj.gov.ph or by fax to 521-1614


CONTACT INFORMATION
DEAF PASSENGER: Franklin Corpuz c/o Marites Racquel Corpuz at 0927-4038348 (text only)