Lauro Baja

Lauro L. Baja, Jr. (born 2 May 1937) was the Permanent Representative to the United Nations for the Republic of the Philippines, and a former Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs. He presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 21 May 2003, replacing former Ambassador Alfonso T. Yuchengco. He was replaced by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide in 2006.

Baja led the Philippine delegation in a two-year membership in the Security Council. He was president of the Security Council, first in June 2004 and again in September 2005.[1][2] Between 2003 and 2004, Amb. Baja was Chairman of the United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee (Legal).[3]

In 2003 he was conferred by President Arroyo the Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Datu, the highest award a member of the Philippine Foreign Service could receive. In 1999, he received the Gawad Mabini Award with the rank of Dakilang Kamanong. The Philippine Jaycees Senate named Ambassador Baja the Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Awardee for his outstanding work in the field of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.[4]

Maid abuse charges

On June 24, 2008, Baja, his wife, Norma Castro Baja, and his daughter, Maria Elizabeth Baja Facundo, were named co-defendants in a US civil complaint filed at Southern District of Manhattan, alleging trafficking, forced labor, peonage and racketeering.[5][6] The complainant claimed that she worked 16-hour days for 7 days a week at Mr. Baja's consular residence and was subjected to verbal and physical abuse from the Baja family.

The plaintiff, Ms. Baoanan, accused the Baja family of paying her only $100 for 3 months work and another $100 for looking after Facundo’s son. Baja stated, however, that "as per our records" Baoanan received $200 a month, and the amount was remitted to her Manila family. Baja further said that Baoanan arrived in New York in January 2006 but left them 3 months later without their knowledge.[7] The New York state minimum wage is $7.15 per hour while Baja has openly admitted paying his maid an average of $6.60 per day.

Norma Baja hired New York attorney Salvador Tuy to file answer and moral damage counter suit against their former maid. “We have called a lawyer in New York … a Fil-Am lawyer … to file a case against her for damages because as you know, my husband is a multi-awarded diplomat. It’s either because she’s looking for monetary considerations since she filed a civil suit before the New York Southern District court where she can seek back wages or she’s trying to prolong her stay there (in the United States)."[8][9]

Baja said he paid his former maid $1,000 a month and had papers to show it. In her 3-month stay with the family, Baoanan received $200 pocket money monthly and $800 went to her family in the Philippines: “The salary of $1,000 was required by the US Embassy before (Baoanan’s) visa was issued.” Baja stated he is also puzzled by silence of Hilario Davide, Jr., Philippine representative to the UN: "I have not [heard] a word, nothing."[10]

Her US federal lawsuit, which was filed after a criminal investigation by US authorities, was closed with no charges filed. Baoanan said she paid $5,000 to Baja and Baja's wife's travel agency for a promised nursing job. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund provided her with legal representation. Marichu Suarez Baoanan, who worked in the ambassadorial townhouse on the 15 East 66th Street Upper East Side, stated: "I did not have hope of escape. I thought of committing suicide because I was so depressed. They paid me with curses, insults, disrespect. They didn’t treat me like a person. I was under the impression they would help me find work as a nurse, instead I was forced to work as a servant for 3 months under abusive conditions.”[11]

Baja, Jr., on July 16, 2008, moved to reject service of summons and dismiss the complaint. Bajas argued he was “diplomatically immune from criminal, civil and administrative suits from all courts of the United States and its states under the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations." Baja alleged that "when the alleged violations transpired between January 13 and April 13, 2006, he was the Philippine permanent representative to the United Nations and head of the Philippine Mission located in New York City."[12]

Graft and corruption cases

Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) Chair Constancia de Guzman and Commissioner Jaime Jacob filed criminal cases with the Ombudsman against Baja on March 12 for violations of the Government Procurement Act, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (R.A. 3019), the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees,[13] and of technical malversation.[14] Jacob submitted copies of the DFA fact-finding team’s report, sworn statements, related documents, and a report of the Commission on Audit, as evidence.[15] On 29 March 2011, Lauro Baja was charged by the Office of the Special Prosecutor with two criminal cases, one for malversation of public funds and another for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The fund anomalies occurred in two separate instances while Baja was the chief of mission at the UN (2003–2007).[16]

Reactions

See also

References

  1. "PRESIDENT OF UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL AND CHAIRMAN OF MILITARY STAFF COMMITTEE IN JUNE". United Nations. 28 May 2004. Retrieved 12 March 2016. Lauro Baja, Permanent Representative of the Philippines, succeeds Munir Akram, Permanent Representative of Pakistan, as President of the Security Council.
  2. "PRESIDENT OF UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL AND CHAIRMAN OF MILITARY STAFF COMMITTEE IN SEPTEMBER". United Nations. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 12 March 2016. Lauro L. Baja, Permanent Representative of the Philippines, succeeds Kenzo Oshima, Permanent Representative of Japan, as President of the Security Council.
  3. United Nations General Assembly, 58th Session, Bureau of the Sixth Committee
  4. http://web.archive.org/web/20080923225525/http://www.un.int:80/philippines/about/baja_bio.html. Archived from the original on September 23, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. RP envoy charged in US - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos
  6. Baoanan v. Baja et al. - 1:2008cv05692 - Justia Federal District Court Filings and Dockets
  7. abs-cbnnews.com, Former RP envoy to UN 'shocked' over allegations by ex-maid
  8. inquirer.net, Maid’s raps all lies, says retired envoy Archived July 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. upi.com, Former U.N. envoy denies trafficking claim
  10. abs-cbnnews.com, Baja: RP consulate's silence on trafficking case puzzling
  11. afp.google.com, Former Philippine diplomat denies maid's slavery charge
  12. gmanews.tv, Baja seeks dismissal of cases file by ex-maid
  13. (R.A. 6713)
  14. (Revised Penal Code)
  15. globalnation.inquirer.net, Baja legal woes pile up; graft raps filed
  16. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110401-328693/Ex-envoy-to-UN-charged-with-graft
  17. gmanews.tv, Migrante asks Arroyo to look into Baja’s case
  18. abs-cbnnews, 'Filipino diplomats should set good example in treating domestic helpers'
  19. globalnation.inquirer.net, Inquiry into RP diplomats’ maids sought

External links

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Alfonso T. Yuchengco
Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations
2003–2006
Succeeded by
Hilario Davide, Jr.
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