Was social work attaché Finardo Cabilao murdered by human trafficking syndicates preying on Filipino women in Malaysia?

Groups involved in the fight against the trafficking menace believe he was. The foreign affairs department, however, cautions the public against prematurely jumping into such conclusions.

“The human trafficking angle, let’s not rule that out, but let us not make the connection right away,” Philippine ambassador to Malaysia Victoriano Lecaros told reporters today at a press conference held at the head office of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Pasay City.

He added that he is “not (yet) ready” to believe that syndicates involved in human trafficking are involved. “If that is true, all of us will be in danger, too.”

Cabilao, a staunch defender of human trafficking victims, was found dead in his Kuala Lumpur apartment at the Taman Maluri district two weeks ago. The cause of death indicated in his death certificate was trauma resulting from head injuries.

Cabilao's fellow social workers said he has been receiving work-related death threats. He was writing a book on the business and victims of human trafficking for prostitution in Malaysia.

Lone Operator

Non-government organizations involved in fighting trafficking in persons described Cabilao as “a tireless champion for trafficked victims.” They credit him for helping find and repatriate back to the Philippines numerous women who were trafficked into prostitution in various Malaysian provinces.

Among the organizations that have been working closely with Cabilao in relation to various human trafficking cases were the Kanlungan Foundation, the Visayan Forum Foundation and the Blas Ople Foundation.

Nina Belmonte, a Kanlungan case manager, said Cabilao has helped them repatriate 15 trafficking victims so far. The last time he emailed her about a case she has been inquiring about was on August 4. Belmonte said Cabilao reported handling 177 cases of human trafficking in his International Social Welfare Service Concept Paper for June 2009.

Unlike other social welfare attaché, Lecaros said Cabilao did not have an assistant. He described Cabilao as “a lone operator” except when he has to collaborate with other embassy staff.

Lecaros himself recalls warning Cabilao not to testify in court on one or two occasions. “His orientation is—whatever it takes to help. But I told him don’t let your good intentions put you at risk.” Lecaros explained that if Cabilao testified in court, he would have been open to counter-suits. “I told him, if you are put on defensive due to one case, you won’t be able to help many others.”

He said Cabilao did translation work in several court cases, “which is okay.”

“Pati ang puno kinakalkal nya.” His eldest sister Leosefina recalls his response when she kidded him once about this: “Kung hindi kakalkalin ang puno, tutubo uli yan kahit putulin mo ang mga sanga.”

When his eldest sister, Leosefina Cabilao-Hernando, asked for help in getting work in Malaysia as a governess, Cabilao cautioned her against it.

“Walang ganun sa Malaysia. Mag-uumpisa ka na legal, ang tatanggap sa iyo legal. Kaso yung pangatlong transfer, illegal na.” He also scolded her when she allowed her son to start looking for work in Dubai with a tourist visa. Her son has since acquired a legal working visa. Cabilao told her, “buti sinuwerte. Pano kung hindi?”

Writing a book

Cabilao has also been working on a book on the trafficking of women in Malaysia for prostitution purposes. Colleague Lani Baylon explained to abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak that his wife was supposed to visit him along with 5 other friends this August. “We were supposed to go to Malaysia on August 20 to 25 to visit him.”

Cabilao warned Baylon, however, that he has work for her when she gets there. “Pagpunta mo dito, hindi ka lang maglalakwatsa,” she quoted him saying. “He said he will be ready with the first draft of the book this August.”

“When I learned of his death, I was hoping that I will still be able to finish his book. But I was told (by a close friend and confidante) that all the files in his laptop were deleted," Baylon narrated. She said Cabilao’s wife confirmed this as well.

Baylon doubts if there are other copies of Cabilao's work. “I asked him to email the draft to me so I can already go over it and start editing it. He said he can’t because it is sensitive material.”

Abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak tried to secure an interview with Cabilao’s wife, who is a also bureau director at the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The Social Marketing Service of the DSWD, however, told this writer that the wife has refused to grant any interviews.

Ambassador Lecaros said there is no way to check whether the files on the USB drive and the laptop were really deleted because “we don’t know what files they contained.”

He said Cabilao’s laptop was in his bedroom, which was locked at the time the embassy staff found his body.

How he was discovered

Lecaros said he last law Cabilao alive on Wednesday, August 5. “We were working on a case with Department of Justice Prosecutor Gania, 2 trafficking victims, together with Susan Ople of the Blas Ople Foundation,” Lecaros recalled. He added that they ended on a happy note because they had “productive work” that day.

Cabilao did not show up for work the following day but Lecaros said this was not unusual because he often did field work.

When Cabilao failed to show up for work on Friday, once again, people at the embassy began finding it odd, particularly since he was supposed to meet Ople that day.

According to a report, Cabilao’s wife asked the embassy to check on her husband as Cabilao never failed to call her every morning since he began working in Malaysia a couple of years ago.

Lecaros said he tried to dial Cabilao’s number but got only a voice mail response. He then advised his administrative assistant to personally check on Cabilao in his apartment. “He lived alone. He might have slipped in the bathroom.”

Thirty minutes later, Lecaros got call from their administrative officer saying “it does not look very good...Mukhang patay na.” The administrative officer was accompanied by the embassy’s military attaché.

Lecaros said Cabilao’s blood was already dry when they found him “so he probably died much earlier.”

At that time, Lecaros recalled, he has been entertaining ambassadors signing condolence books for the late president Corazon Aquino who died on August 1. Lecaros said he saw Cabilao for himself at 7pm on Friday, August 7.

“The police were summoned. The next day, Mrs. [Jesusa] Cabilao [the wife of Finardo Cabilao] came. She went and viewed his body in the morgue of the National University of Malaysia hospital. Then she gave her statement to the police.

His death certificate said he died of trauma resulting from head injuries.

The police started to put together a profile of the deceased. The rest of the week was spent on various administrative matters, including [sorting out] bank accounts as well as consular matters to get his body home. Cabilao’s body was shipped home to the Philippines on Friday, August 14.

Lecaros said he assigned the police immigration attaché, Bernardo Diaz, a full colonel at the Philippine National Police, to coordinate with a lady captain in the royal Malaysian police over this matter.

Brutal death

Lecaros belied rumors that Cabilao was tortured. “I know he was hit more than once,” he said. He said he was not able to read the autopsy report because it was not yet translated to English. The report was written in Malay.

Earlier, abs-cbnNEWS.com/ Newsbreak interviewed Cabilao’s eldest sister, Leosefina Cabilao-Hernando and another sister, Leonarfina Cabilao-Romero, both of whom were among those who met Cabilao's body on Friday, August 14, when it arrived at the tarmac of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport via Malaysian Air.

Hernando said that Cabilao’s wife was so distraught over his brutality of his death that she initially did not want his casket opened at the wake. The sisters, however, insisted in opening the casket. “How can we seek justice if people will not see (how much he suffered?)

Hernando described to this writer the state of her brother’s body. “When the coffin was opened, we saw how our brother was brutally killed.

His face was disfigured and he was bruised all over. He had a black eye (pointing to the right eye). There was a wound on his right cheek. Sugatan ang lips nya. His nose sunk (lumubog). Parang butas na lang ang nakita.”

She also quoted the embalmers at Funeraria Paz telling them, “Grabe. Tinorture dahil wala nang kuko sa daliri.” She said those working in the morgue told them this is not normally done during the embalming process.

Cabilao was not embalmed in Malaysia according to Hernando. Thus, when it arrived, she said “his body was in a state of deterioration” such that the embalmers initially thought it would not be possible to embalm it anymore. “The chief embalmer (at Funeraria Paz) was the one who embalmed (him).” Cabilao’s body was embalmed at the Araneta Avenue branch of Funeraria Paz in Quezon City.

Lecaros, however, said the fingernails may have fallen off because the body had to stay in a freezer for 5 days. “I remembered seeing his fingernails when he was still on the floor. So they were still intact.”

He said the Royal Malaysian Police are treating the case very seriously, particularly since it involves a member of the diplomatic community. The term they used is “unnatural death.” He also added that there is no reason to complain yet over the pace at which the investigation is going. “It’s only been 10 days,” he pointed out. “Need to grant the police enough work to do their work.”

No signs of forced entry

Cabilao has been staying at the Casa Ria Apartments in the Taman Maluri district of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The place, according to Lecaros, is comparable to the area of New Manila, Quezon City that is near Aurora Boulevard.

Local dailies in Kuala Lumpur reported earlier that Malaysian police have ruled out robbery as motive since Cabilao’s cash and valuables, such as camera, laptop, watch and other belongings were left intact. The case is reportedly being investigated as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

The apartment bore no signs of forced entry, according to Lecaros. “A neighbor said that [Cabilao] had a couple of visitors the previous night. On the dining table were two coffee mugs. Cabilao, he said, was found lying in a pool of blood on the floor of his dining room.

The neighbor, according to Lecaros, said there were still signs of activity in his apartment as late as 11pm the night before. He said there is still no indication as to the identity of the persons who visited Cabilao the night before he was discovered dead. They were simply described by the neighbor as a man and a woman. The apartment complex, according to Lecaros, had an inoperative camera and no guard logbooks.

There were several other members of the embassy staff who lived in the same apartment complex. Lecaros said he has since “instructed them to move out”

Death threats, security of staff

At the press conference, fellow social workers said Cabilao has been receiving death threats for helping solve cases of human trafficking.

Lecaros, however, said he is “not aware of any such threats [against Cabilao]. He explained that he “met with all attachés every week” and Cabilao never brought this up.

The ambassador added that Cabilao would be more vulnerable in provinces like Sarawak and Kota Kinabalu, where he often did field work.

Lecaros said that since the Cabilao murder, he has decided to move out all Philippine embassy staff living in the complex where Cabilao used to live because, “when I went there [to see Cabilao’s body], the guard at the gate just waved us in. [He] did not ask for IDs. [Because of that] I thought the place is no longer secure.

Lecaros said it is his duty to certify suitability of quarters of embassy staff as head of office. While in other aspects, the apartment complex met suitability requirements, “security assumes as larger dimension now.”

Lecaros said Consul Melchor La Luna Jr. is meeting on the afternoon of August 18 with the inspector general of the royal Malaysian police to follow up on the case.

Cabilao’s Replacement

DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral earlier said she will immediately replace Cabilao to help overseas Filipinos in distress. Organizations of social workers who attended a press conference on Monday, however, expressed concern over the security of the social worker who will replace Cabilao.

“This brutal crime reminds us that social work is a dangerous work,” said Evelyn Serrano of the International Federation of Social Workers. The social workers organizations urged government to get to the bottom of the incident.

Aside from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, other Philippine embassies which have social welfare attaches are stationed are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait, Jeddah, Riyadh, Korea and Jordan.

Apart from Cabilao’s death the one other incident of violence against a Philippine embassy official in a foreign post happened in August 2000 when the Jakarta residence of then Philipine Ambassador to Indonesia Leonides Caday was bombed.

Caday luckily survived the incident. (abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak)

---

INTERACT WITH THIS ARTICLE