Freddie Aguilar ready to marry 16-year-old GF

More on the same theme... I am in any case guilty of it myself...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...december-couples_n_2396251.html#slide=1939773

Who are we to judge anyway? It just happen some people found their love ones a bit late than others! :violin:

Providing definitions and statements of legality as far as the UK is concerned are completely irrelevant: both parties are Filipino and the 'offence' is being committed in the Philippines.

Rampant ageism?! There is nothing ageist about having respect for the law.

Certainly RA 10354 (“Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012″) may be applicable as well as other child-protection laws.

I am quite sure that were you to ask, the International Justice Mission (IJM) or the Childrens' Legal Bureau would be very happy to provide you with a list of possible offences. The US Government, concerned about the behaviour of some of its citizens whilst abroad, provides the Philippines with a decent amount of funding to tackle human-trafficking and sex offences; some of this money is channelled through NGOs such as IJM which 'assists' in the tracking-down, arrest and prosecution of offenders. But their emphasis in in pursuing foreigners who commit such offences; they have no interest in prosecuting Filipinos.

Whilst I agree that there needs to be laws in both countries to protect minors, I don't like the sound of the one sided application of Philippine law that you portray.

I agree but from the Philippine perspective: "he who pays the piper ...". Cynical, of course!

IMO, we're only here for a short time and we should wish people happiness with their love lives.
There is so much stress around for everyone to have to deal with, a little loving goes a long way

I've been following the discussion on this on Dr Margarita Holmes' Facebook page, which she kicked off by saying she was going to do an "Ask Margie" podcast on it in Rappler, and asked people their opinions.

Now, I will say straight off that I am a friend and admirer of Dr Holmes, and that her circle of friends and acquaintances are probably towards the liberal end of the spectrum of Filipino opinion, but I was struck that a slender majority were of the view that, "It's none of our business, nobody is being harmed, and there are far greater evils in Philippines society to be dealt with before we start casting stones in the direction of Freddie Aguilar and his child bride."

This, sadly, is a point of view that is shared by many Filipinos but I do wonder if their opinions would be somewhat different were Freddie Aguilar a foreigner.

The sad case of Ellah Joy Pique has resulted in some distinctly racist remarks being made, most notably when the Norwegian Berger and his fiancée Karen were being held. When it became apparent that Berger couldn't possibly have been responsible, a radio station phone-in programme received a large number of calls demanding that Berger should stand trial regardless "to atone for the many crimes committed by foreigners against Filipinos". One of the reasons Berger could not have committed that offence was quite simply that he was seated on an airplane midway between Hong Kong and Cebu at the time that Ellah Joy was abducted. However that defence is considered an alibi and there's case law that effectively means that a suspect does not need to be physically present in order to commit murder: Francisco Juan "Paco" Larrañaga, a Spanish Filipino, was convicted of murdering the Chong Sisters even though he was in America at the time of their death! Larrañaga, who was aged 20 at the time of the alleged offences, was transferred to a Spanish prison in 2009 and will be 61 when he is released in 2038.

No need to let inconvenient things like facts get in the way of a good circus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiong_murder_case

You're absolutely right, Dom, I was thinking about something else!

Ah, this stems from a rather controversial judgement handed down a few years ago in a case that wasn't as clear cut as Larranaga's, in that the defendant in that case claimed he was not at the crime scene at the time of the offence but a few miles away. The Judge's ruling was that alibi evidence, being effectively a denial, was the weakest form of defence and furthermore, if a live witness testifies that he saw the accused at a certain place at a given time then any defence alibi stating otherwise should be dismissed. Now that ruling really only applies to court cases but the PNP also work to that principle which is why officers did not seek to verify Berger and Esdrelon's various alibis - including that, at the time a witness claimed to have met Berger he was seated on a Cathay Pacific flight midway between Hong Kong and Cebu.

I think its true to say that had the Norwegian government not placed diplomatic pressure and its Consul in Cebu - himself a Filipino - not been so vocal about the case, Berger and Esdrelon might well have been put on trial.

I thought the bergers Alibi centered on Video camera evidence that they were in a large Cebu hotel reception shortly after the Murder.. The NBI advised the judge that it was not possible for them to have committed the murder because of time restraints given camera evidence.
They were then released.

The Bergers had many alibis all of which pointed to them being in Cebu City before, during and after Ellah Joy's abduction and murder. You're right that the "killer" evidence was the security video from the Waterfront Hotel and this was suppressed, possibly deliberately, by the CPPO Senior Superintendent who took personal charge of the "investigation".

Well at least DSWD has shown some sense - it prevented Aguilar's girlfriend from travelling to Malaysia without her parents. Today's Philippine Star has the story:

So 5 Star to Oliver twist

I rather think Freddie Aguilar may now be regretting his decision to talk about his 16 year old girlfriend:

From Manila Bulletin (tomorrow's edition)