Religious heads want probe of fake nuns bound for Lebanon

Angered over the misuse of nuns' habits, a group of Roman Catholic religious superiors sought a full investigation into the case of six Lebanon-bound Filipina workers trying to sneak out of the country by posing as religious sisters. The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) said authorities should find out who was behind such a trafficking scheme. “I think they should really find out who is behind this because this is really terrible ... It’s really annoying because now [authorities] will be stricter with us because they’ll think that we are also fake nuns. I’m disgusted about this," AMRSP head Sr. Mary John Mananzan said in an article posted on the Union of Catholic Asian News website. Last week, Philippine immigration officials held the six women for attempting to travel to Lebanon by disguising themselves as nuns. The Philippines bans the deployment of Filipino workers to Lebanon, as well as to Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan and Nigeria, due to risky conditions in those countries. Investigation showed the women were about to board a connecting flight to Hong Kong at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport when they were caught. According to an earlier newscast on GMA News’ “24 Oras", the six introduced themselves as missionaries from Baguio.
Immigration officials, however, doubted the group’s claims, as they noticed that the women wore their habits in a sloppy manner, and that it was unusual for nuns to be carrying bags and wearing shoes in gaudy colors. Upon interrogation, one of the six admitted that they were not nuns, and that they were going to Hong Kong to catch a connecting flight to Lebanon, where jobs allegedly awaited them. The six were not detained, but authorities said they may still be slapped with swindling, fraud and obstruction of justice charges. Authorities are also tracking down the six women’s recruiters. Mananzan said that while she has no problem wit nuns being subjected to the same security procedures as everyone else, she is disgusted when unscrupulous parties wear nuns' habits. “I’m really not in favor of receiving special treatment, but I don’t like people using our sacred habit in order to do wrong," she said.—With Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV