Kevin and Charlene Taylor in happier times On May 15 2009 Kevin Taylor, a British man living in the Philippines was arrested for “illegal recruitment”. Shortly afterwards his wife Charlene was arrested on the same charge and they have both languished in a prison cell for what is now almost 3 years without trial. Since being imprisoned, Kevin Taylor suffered a heart attack and has had numerous health problems ever since. Their business stands accused of defrauding job seekers with promises of employment abroad, but both Kevin and Charlene strongly deny any wrongdoing. The purpose of this thread is to discuss in a very open manner what is happening and to try and shine a light on this injustice that has befallen Kevin and Charlene Taylor.
I knew nothing of this case until your postings. I believe it is wrong to hold anyone that long without trial, especially without charge (have they now been charged?) but can we be sure these people are innocent? There is always a temptation to believe that any 'Brit' held in custody overseas is 'innocent' without looking at the facts. I did read one newspaper report which said the Philippines authorities had received 400 complaints. If that report is accurate and true, there must be serious doubt as to whether this couple are innocent or not.
The issue is not one of innocence or guilt. They both have protested their innocence but the people who made the complaints to the police have so far failed to turn up to court in order to provide evidence/witness testimonies! They have been in prison for almost 3 years waiting for a trial that might never come. They are and should be innocent until proven guilty!
I was following the story for quite a while, and it always sounded to me as if they were kosher. It is a very sad occurrence, that jealous and invidious people decided to report them to the authorities with false allegations of malpractice. As far as I am aware, They were not, and I repeat, NOT an employment agency of any sort. But some sort of training office. And they were operating with all the correct licences. Suffice to say, that witnesses, disappeared or didn't want to proceed any longer, because they knew that there was no case.
This needs to go viral! I checked the website for Fair Trials International and they have no mention of this case. If you have Facebook, please like and promote awareness through this Facebook page.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Help_Kevin_Taylor/files/ Please join this group and read these files.
May this be a warning for everyone who plans to do any "business" in any manner in the Philippines. Please do not "stone me" its just food for thoughts.. --- Although this appears to be an outregeaous injustice in our western standards - it is normal here in the Philippines. Please take into consideration, that the Taylors HAVE broken the LAW. As much as the websites or support pages say they haven't, they DID break it, because it is/was illegal recruitment. I don't wat to go into detauls, which and why, just take my word for it, its been discussed wildly since years, also among some Lawyer friends of mine. The Embassy also publicallyannounced that at one occasion. Thats why the Taylors are on their own. As one may agree under the 'taxpayers" aspectpoint of view. And every day there are a few which go bust, just yesterday here in the small town of Balamban one guy was arrested for the very same offense. (Recruiting workers for Australia for a fee) Among a few other hundreds of guys with the same offense, but nobody cries for them as they are all Filipinos. But who protects the nth thousands of Filipinos which fall prey every day to illegal recruiters ? I am not saying that the Taylors have betrayed anyone, they most probably did it in god intentions too, but one can not deny the fact that : a.) Its illegal for any foreigner to operate recruitment Agancies, its a 100% Filipino business.And if a Filipino uses Foreigners, he will also be arrested, its the same. b.) Any Agency needs a POEA Registration, which is hard to come by, also because of a.) This is the main problem for the Taylors. Please dear forum readers, think trice about opening or operating ANY form of this business, that also applies for the innocent appearing Marriage Agency. Evem when done from abroad and legal in the ,lets say UK, upon entering Philippine soil,one WILL get arrested ! This has recently happened to a Filipino who helped (free of charge btw) and aranged marriages and jobs for a lot of people. Someone was disgrunteled and pressed charges ( unbeknown to him ) and he got arretsed at his vacation. Happy ending in this case, as the Person retracted his charges and he got set free. But still..
I agree with refraining from doing business in Phils, as it is not "risky free"... But where the Taylors are concerned, am afraid I tend to believe their version of events. You may be unaware of the fact, but Charlene was a member on another forum, and we followed this sorry saga from the very beginning.
I agree with the general Innocent until proven guilty and i also feelthat the Taylors have not done anyting immoral or bad to enrich them. Unfortuantely the law see that different, hence my earlier warning,always consult with the SEC about the legality of any business, SEC registration should be always done in order to make sure that nothing is worng with ones biz idea. About the witnesses, as a matter of facts and that is the main evidence, the Taylors themselve provided the proof of the violation in their own website: http://www.taylorstravel.webs.com/ Andf they still deny any worngdoing, overlooking the fact, that the husband does not/is not allowed to do any of those "businesses", in particular Employment, Education, Traning (without license and permission of course, there are excemptions) In the webSIte ( kind of silly) they say, thats its soleproprietor ofms. Chalene, but then again, they use the words "we"... and so on. I'd say,they put themselves into the slammer with every third sentence.
There are many instances in the English language, where the term "WE" means "I".... Especially in company speak and Royal speeches and formal stuff.
Yes, you are correct, i am aware of that. However, the Laws regarding recruiting is explicit and includes ANY form of job placement, active, passive and otherwise. Even when done for free, its not allowed. technically if a foreigner, (me for instance) tells a Filipino to go there and there and get a job, it is already an illegal act, but of course nobody cares in those private" instances. Similar it is illegal, if one voices ANY comment in Political elections about a candidate, foreigners are NOT allowed to do so and it could be seen as an endorsement of a politician ( i.e.- "mayor x is a good man, you should , or i would, elect him") Or introducing a lady to a friend for marriage. Technically Illegal already !. And so many things one could be get in trouble, IF someone complains. Please everybody do not get my wrong, i emphasize, that i feel ( although know nothing of course ) that the Taylors are really "innocent" People with best intentions, and possibly the complaints come from Competitors. That does not change the legal fact, i just give the advise more or less in the possibility, that somebody might plan a business ( who doesn't? ) and that one should really be aware of this and make himself "smart". Best way for this is to simply ask and register his business with the SEC. If a business is SEC registered, one can be almost certain, that its legal. Even Single Proprietorship can be registered. The DTI ( Dept.of Trade and Industry) registration is NOT ( as commonly believed) an assurance that its a legal business. Only the SEC, (Security and Exchange Commission) can do this, of course, when one registers and does "illegal" business after, this is still punishable. But i assume, everyone gets my point. Often heard is the argument, that a good lawyer could help, unfortunately the "newbie"to the Philippines often can not distinguish what a "good" lawyer is and which ones are just "stampers" and"notarizers" and don't warn or check. Thats has happened to me 1998, when i founded my second Corporation with the aide and guidance of an "uncle". Good for me was that he was also a bit slow and later in the process i went myself to the SEC and other places only to find out that the form of enterprise i was planning was illegal for expats. The SEC informed the lawyer about this, but he choose not to tell me. Most probably in order to cash in on the first registration and then cash in on the rejection and change of Business again. No less than the head of the SEC told me this himself, and was happy that he could see me personally and help me with the finalization of the Corporation in another form. Saved me a lot of time and money then.
The problem is guenther that if it is such an open and shut case and is so clear that they have committed a crime, then why have they not been convicted after 3 years on remand? If they are obviously guilty how come the courts didn't just convict and sentence them?
I do take your points on the legality of running any kind of business over there, all very valid points. People do manage it though, I have a French friend that built an IT business there then merged with another international IT company and is now president of the entire Asian operation, he started with next to nothing just went there and hired one programmer to start with to service the one customer he had (in Scotland) that was in 1999 and he now employs hundred's of Filipinos. I also have a British friend based in the UK who has a 50% stake in an electronics design company that he built up over there over a similar period.
Looks like they cant convict them because the police cannot get the complainants to turn up.. I think that the Police last time forgot to bring their case files along...Each time this happens the case is adjourned for another 3 months. The charges against them are non bailable offenses... The judge should have thrown this out long long ago.. Perhaps the judge and the policeman are cousins? Onli in di pilipins.
To issues here , interpretation of rules/las and secondly the enforcement process/legal system I will never trade in the Phils the way to encourage the government to change is to impose the same rules for Pinoys in Europe no property holding and a huge list of restricted occupations once remitances dry up the phils government might think about the playing field
Kieth... If you believe that the British Gov care that much about their own countrymen then you are dreaming mate!! They couldnt give a f*** about us or our so called rights either at home or abroad. We are on our own mate! Dont forget that.
Kuya....Oops!! Sorry about the curse word.. I was on the Emperador light last night and didn't realize there was no swear filter here.
No worries.. Sometimes I have had the odd one myself forgetting I'm not in the DK. Backtracking to edit them out.
I had to read it a couple of times just to make sure that the resident polack really started to learn proper english.......
