Four Filipinos staying
By SHERRI BORDEN / Staff Reporter of The Halifax Herald
Esmeraldo Esteban is looking forward to the day when he can shoot some basketball with his three children and wrap his arms around his wife, whom he hasn't seen in over two years.
On Thursday, the fight to stay in Canada came to an end for Mr. Esteban, Rudolfo Miguel, Ariel Broas and Juanito Ilagan Jr., the four Filipino sailors who accused six Taiwanese officers of the Maersk Dubai of forcing three Romanian stowaways overboard on the high seas in 1996.
Thursday morning in Halifax, Ron Heisler, director for Citizenship and Immigration Canada for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, announced that the men will be allowed to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
The sailors, whose fate had been in the hands of Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board for two years, have said their families, who still live in and around Manila, have been threatened and harassed. Many are in hiding.
As Mr. Esteban, Mr. Ilagan and Mr. Broas entered the Brunswick Street office they looked worried. Hearing the decision, they smiled reservedly and hugged their supporters but appeared stunned.
Mr. Broas said his mind was blank just before the announcement. He was expecting the worst based on bad news the four have previously received from the immigration board.
"The only thing I can say to rejoice is 'Praise God.' ... It (lets) me remove some of the stress on my mind, at least I can breathe normally."
Mr. Heisler said this case was unusual because of the circumstances of the way the ship arrived in Halifax Harbour, the court and refugee hearings and the decisions rendered at these hearings.
The decision, he said, in no way reflects on the Filipino government and was not based on the men's claim that they would be killed if they returned to the Philippines.
Solid employment histories and their good conduct since arriving in Canada were factors in the men's favor.
The news was very emotional for three of the former sailors who attended the announcement with their lawyer Lee Cohen and supporters from the Friends of the Seafarers Society and Missions to Seamen.
"I could enjoy my children," Mr. Esteban said. "I could play with my children. I could (make up) for all of those years that I was not around."
The father of two boys, 14 and 13, and a girl, 10, said he has already bought a basketball and in-line skates for his children.
Mr. Ilagan, 34, who took an hour off work Thursday to hear the decision, described the past two years as difficult.
"It's tough being alone in a strange country, not knowing anyone," he said. "When I came here I only knew my colleagues, and all four of us stick together."
But Mr. Ilagan said he didn't regret telling police about the alleged high-seas murders.
"If I see it again, I will," he said. "It's the right thing to do, and the only right thing to do. I will (do it again). No matter what it cost me, my life, whatever."
During a refugee board hearing in Halifax in June and July 1997, the men testified their lives would be in grave danger if they returned to the Philippines.
In November 1997, in a 63-page decision, the national Immigration and Refugee Board ruled that the four weren't persecuted for political reasons and therefore didn't qualify as refugees. It also criticized the sailors for vague and inconsistent testimony during last summer's hearings.
In May, the four Filipinos received deportation notices ordering them to leave the country by July 2.
Mr. Cohen said he felt a little emotional and relieved during Thursday's news conference.
"This has been an extremely long case, and it's been very difficult," Mr. Cohen said.
"It's been full of legal pitfalls and political pitfalls. We were nervous the whole way through."
Mr. Cohen, who submitted a 2,000-page landed-immigrant application to Immigration and Citizenship Canada last month that included letters of support from about 400 people as well as an 1,100-signature petition and an outline of the entire case from March 1996, said he wasn't completely surprised by the decision.
"The intention of our written application was to press as many buttons as we could, hoping that one of them would score the goal, and it worked."
Not only is the decision positive to the sailors, it is also a good one for Canada, Mr. Cohen said.
"I think Canada has admitted to the country four very principled people, and they will make a significant contribution to the country."
The Taiwanese officers, who still work for the Dubai's owner, Yang Ming Marine Transport Ltd., are free but awaiting possible prosecution in Taiwan for the alleged murders.
Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Michael MacDonald ruled in 1996 that he would have committed the officers to stand trial on second-degree murder and manslaughter charges, but he had no jurisdiction because the alleged crimes happened in international waters.
Mr. Cohen couldn't say if his clients will testify against their former bosses in Taiwan if subpoenaed.
"We are still faced with the same problems - that is, the safety of the four sailors and their family members. If formal efforts are made to compel our testimony, we'll have to deal with that when and if that happens."
Flemming Holm, a spokesman for the Concerned for Seafarer Witnesses Society, said his group has raised $80,000 to help bring the families to Canada, including $27,000 from the United Church of Canada.
