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U.S. Labor Dept. fines Asian paper
Aquino coming here, to meet community
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Year 39, No. # 35 July 30 - August 6, 2010
N.Y. finance exec, aide hunted in R.P. swindle
MARK HERNANDEZ HERRERA
By EDMUND M. SILVESTRE
A New York Filipino executive at a U.S. financial services firm has been declared a fugitive and placed in the blacklist order by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration after he fled Manila in 2005 and left his victims high and dry in a multi-million peso financial fraud, the Filipino Reporter has learned.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs cancelled last March the passport of Mark Hernandez Herrera, 39, who is said to be employed as a regional vice president for Primerica, a year after the Regional Trial Court's Pasig City Branch 71 issued a warrant of arrest against Herrera under Criminal Case No. 138006-08.
The warrant was signed by Judge Franco Falcon on Jan. 26, 2009, based on the "existence of probable cause after the preliminary investigation had been conducted by State Prosecutor I Aldrin P. Evangelista, supported by sworn statements, documents and other evidence."
Herrera, who reportedly holds offices in Manhattan and Edison, New Jersey, did not return calls by the Reporter to his New York office.
An accomplice of Herrera, identified as Jose Meynardo I. Esquivel, is also the subject of a manhunt for the same crime that took place sometime in 2004, according to court records obtained by the Reporter.
Esquivel reportedly escaped to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Both Herrera and Esquivel were accused of swindling unsuspecting investors in a financial services company they formed called Noble Asia, Inc. in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
As incorporators, they acted as chief executive officer and chairman, respectively.
Some 30 victims came forward and lodged formal complaints claiming the two bilked them out of tens of millions of pesos in investments, with promises of high returns.
Much of the money received from investors was used by these alleged con-artists to fund their luxurious lifestyle like fancy cars and houses, they charged.
With Herrera and Esquivel gone, many of the complainants have lost hope they would be able to recoup their losses and bring the suspects to justice.
But not the members of the Cuyco family, one of whom even worked as chief operating officer (COO) for Noble Asia, Inc.
Ma. Carolina Cuyco reportedly worked with Herrera and Esquivel at Loyola Plans, where they were among the top agents.
When Herrera and Esquivel left to establish Noble Asia, Inc., they brought with them their best co-workers at Loyola, including Cuyco.
Herrera and Esquivel reportedly made Cuyco COO of Noble Asia, in charge of all agents, and convinced her to invest her own money and those of her parents.
Cuyco's parents, Renato and Filipina Cuyco, were also close to Herrera and even stood as sponsors at Herrera's wedding in the Philippines. (An unverified report said Herrera remarried in the United States.)
When the smoke settled, Cuyco and her parents lost nearly P13 million (about $288,000, interest not included) from the scheme.
Among the evidence presented by Cuyco in court were several bouncing checks issued by the suspects.
Jay Cuyco, a New York-based member of the Cuyco family, told the Reporter he repeatedly tried to communicate with Herrera by phone, e-mail and even Facebook and MySpace, but the suspect refused to talk to him.
"He changed his numbers and shut down his social networking sites," said Jay.
"Honestly, our family didn't want to ruin their lives because we've known them for so long and we trusted them," added Jay. "They left us with no choice but to pursue the case. We won't stop until they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and we won't stop until we find justice."
In a sworn statement dated Nov. 12, 2007, the state prosecutor certified that both Herrera and Esquivel have been "informed of the complaint and of evidence submitted against them; and they were given an opportunity to submit their controverting evidence."
The two, however, did not respond and fled the country instead, court records indicate.
According to the order of arrest, authorities were supposed to apprehend Herrera and Esquivel at No. 35 Moscow corner Brazil St., Loyola Grand Villas, Quezon City, and/or Noble Asia, Inc., 35th Floor Antel Global Corp. Center, Julia Vargas St., Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
The arrest order was first endorsed to the station commanders of both Quezon City and Pasig City, and later distributed to other concerned agencies, including the Bureau of Immigration.
"Mark (Esquivel) makes $20,000 a month, lives in a Manhattan apartment on Prince Street, and drives a BMW," claimed Jay Cuyco.
"Since he's earning a lot at Primerica, he should have settled the money he owes us even on installment basis. Either that or he and [Jose Meynardo] Esquivel will remain fugitives in the Philippines for the rest of their lives."
Jay says the Cuyco family, as well as other complainants, are closely working with the Philippine Government to have Herrera and Esquivel extradited to the Philippines and face the music.
Jay says Herrera has twin daughters left in the Philippines with his wife.
Another source said he has another child out of wedlock.
"I still believe these (suspects) were good people who just became greedy when money started coming in," Jay says.
A former employer of Herrera in New York described Herrera as "one of the best marketers I've ever had."
"He's very, very hardworking and very focused," says the employer, who talked on condition of anonymity. "He's so busy trying to improve himself. I'm really surprised he would get himself involved in this kind of scheme in the Philippines. Sana hindi totoo, sayang siya."
U.S. Labor Dept. fines Asian paper
By STEVE ANGELES
LOS ANGELES — A Filipino newspaper is in trouble. The U.S. Labor Department said it violated many rules when it imported workers from the Philippines. Asian Journal has been sponsoring the work visas of Filipinos as writers, journalists, and accountants. The Labor Department found that the visa holders worked in the sales department.
Asian Journal also failed to pay overtime to some of its workers. The violations occurred between 2006 and 2008. Asian Journal will pay 32 employees over half a million dollars in back wages. It will not be allowed to petition any foreign workers for two years.
Kimchi Bui of the U.S. Department of Labor said, "Typically the H-1B's program purpose is to help workers fill positions and seek out workers that have specific skills that are not available domestically. We, in the department enforce a number of labor laws; H-1B is one of them so the issues are widespread in a number of industries."
The newspaper has also been fined $40,000 as a penalty. Asian Journal has operations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York and the Philippines.
Attorney Clint Robison is the legal counsel for Asian Journal in Los Angeles. He spoke to "Balitang America" via Skype.
He said, "There's an assumption that laws were being violated. The thing to note in the Department of Labor's information is that these are allegations based on an investigation. The company went ahead and appealed the findings and decided that it would challenge the findings, denying the findings, in court as is its due process right. Not long prior to the hearing a resolution was reached with the Department of Labor. So to characterize them as findings of violations is not necessarily an accurate characterization."
Sales department
Attorney Robison commented on why the Asian Journal primarily employed foreign journalists who ended up working in the sales department.
"It's a family run business that has a number of different needs. And their commitment to the community is to get the news out. Now sometimes people, who are in fact journalists, are performing other tasks that may include things that are needed to run a newspaper and make it efficient. That doesn't mean they're not journalists. Again that's something the company denies with respect to the allegations by the Department of Labor."
In a statement sent to the Filipino Reporter at press time Thursday, the Asian Journal Publications said it has reached an agreement with the Department of Labor in a review of wage records related to certain of its H1-B visa workers.
The statement follows in full:
The Asian Journal, a family-owned enterprise, has historically employed workers with specialized language and other skills to meet the demands of its readers. The Asian Journal has made numerous contributions to the diversity in the community through employment and other means. As part of that history, the paper has from time to time employed people from other countries under the U.S. Immigration Laws.
The H-1B visa program is a voluntary program that permits employers to secure and employ non-immigrants on a temporary basis to fill specialized jobs in the United States. There are specialized technical wage rules for these jobs, which can be difficult to navigate.
The Asian Journal has provided job opportunities to many Southland employees. During this time, the paper has acted in good faith to comply with all state and federal laws in the timely and accurate payment of wages. Notwithstanding, the Department instituted a review of the Asian Journal's employment policies, practices and records, and made certain allegations.
The review determined that some employees hired for positions as accountants, reporters, news writers, journalists, business analysts, public relations specialists and financial analysts, were employed in sales and marketing functions.
"The Asian Journal appealed the review for a fair hearing under due process protections. Prior to the hearing, the Asian Journal and the Department reached an agreement which provided for payment of certain wages to the affected workers," said Clint Robison, a labor & employment partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson in Los Angeles, counsel for the Asian Journal. "There was no admission of fault or liability as part of the agreement."
"The paper cooperated fully with the Department at all times, and respects its review process, though it disagrees with the conclusions. Resolving this was a tough decision, but the paper would rather move forward and continue with its work in the Filipino community, without unnecessary distractions."
"While the decision means the paper will be unable to take part in, or petition people for, H-1B visas for a period of time, the Asian Journal's support of the Filipino community remains steadfast and unwavering," said Mr. Robison.
The Asian Journal has operations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York and the Philippines.
Aquino coming here, to meet community
PRESIDENT BENIGNO AQUINO III
By BERT PELAYO
Special to the Filipino Reporter
President Benigno S. Aquino is scheduled to address the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York during the general debate between Sept. 23-25, 2010, according to diplomatic and consular sources.
This will be President Aquino's first foreign trip since winning by a majority vote in the crowded Philippine presidential election on May 10, 2010.
Whether he will proceed to Washington, D.C. after New York is still up in the air, the same sources said. He has been invited to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama anytime this year.
Because of time constraint, Aquino will probably skip Washington for now. If he goes there, it will be either on a state or working visit, both of which require more time to prepare.
The U.S. invitation was extended to Aquino by U.S. Undersecretary for Political Affairs William Burns when he visited Manila recently.
Aquino, however, is certain to meet Obama at the sideline of the high-level plenary session on the Millennium Development Goals on Sept. 20-22 at the United Nations.
Aquino will deliver the Philippine policy statement between Sept. 23-25 but exactly on what day could not be ascertained yet.
Aquino will be accompanied by senior government officials and business leaders and may stay in New York City for at least four days, the Filipino Reporter has learned.
"The delegation will certainly be leaner than the one during the previous administration and will be staying in more modest accommodations," said an officer who is familiar with preliminary arrangements but who declined to talk on the record.
While in New York, he will be meeting with business executives and the Filipino community in the metropolitan area.
The time, date and place are being planned.
The 65th ordinary UN session will open on Sept. 14 at 3 p.m. to be presided by UNGA president Joseph Deiss of Switzerland who was elected by acclamation on June 11, 2010.
Also elected were 21 vice presidents, as well as the presidents, vice presidents and rapporteurs of six main committees.
Ambassador Carlos Sorreta, deputy permanent representative of the Philippine Mission to the UN, serves as a vice chair of the first committee (disarmament and security).
Among the vice presidents are the five permanent members of the Security Council: China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States.
AT YOUR SERVICE: Guests and FALDEF officers (l.-r.) Nimfa Tinana, Roger Alama, Joe Ramos, Steven Siegel, Esq., Glenn Magpantay, Esq., Joseph Duff, Esq., Vincent Southerland, Esq., JT Mallonga, Esq., Merit Salud, Deputy Consul General Melita Sta. Maria Thomeczek, Consul Leandro Lachica and Nena Kaufman.
By EDMUND M. SILVESTRE
Special to the Filipino Reporter
Good news to the Filipino immigrant community.
The Filipino American Legal Defense and Education Fund (FALDEF) and its volunteer lawyers will provide free legal consultation every third Friday of the month in line with FALDEF's mission to make the immigrant community stronger, informed and educated.
This was announced by FALDEF president JT Mallonga, Esq., at a July 16 forum at the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center among volunteer lawyers and members of the Filipino-American legal community, and co-sponsored by the Philippine Consulate General of New York (PCGNY) and the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) Region One.
"FALDEF volunteer lawyers shall make themselves available for free legal consultation to the greater community," said Mallonga. "We always believe that there must be an entity a Filipino immigrant can go to for legal questions or concerns and, that entity shall be FALDEF."
The free consultation, starting this Aug. 20, will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Lovin' Life Learning Center, 4 West 43rd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), New York, NY 10036.
"FALDEF shall primarily focus on the protection and preservation of immigrant rights, with special emphasis on immigration related issues and legislation, including pro bono deportation defense and representation of deserving but indigent Filipinos in immigration detention centers," Mallonga said.
"Why FALDEF? Why You?" was the focus of the July 16 forum, a theme FALDEF chairman Robert Rivas, Esq., said was chosen "with the clear intent of both challenging and encouraging members of the legal profession and the members of the Filipino-American community to support the mission of FALDEF."
"FALDEF aims to provide not only pro bono legal services to deserving members of the community but also equally important, to make pro bono legal service a viable option for those who cannot afford legal services," Rivas stated.
The interest generated by FALDEF was evidently seen in the number of representatives attending from the legal community and Fil-Am organizations.
Featured as speakers in this first-of-its kind legal forum were Joseph Duff, Esq. and Vincent Southerland, Esq., both from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (NAACP LDF), and Glenn Magpantay, Esq., from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF).
Magpantay kicked off the forum with a powerpoint presentation on recent voting patterns and participations by Asian-Americans in recent elections, with special emphasis on Filipinos.
"On the basis of recent election statistics on Filipino voting patterns, much needs to be done to bring the Filipino community into the political processes," said Magpantay, who is Filipino-American. "And that consequently, both lawyers and community leaders must push for voter education and participation among Filipinos."
Magpantay is the director of the Democracy Program at the AALDEF, where he coordinates voting rights and census programs.
He attended the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook on Long Island, and graduated cum laude from New England School of Law in Boston after being admitted as an affirmative action beneficiary.
Joseph H. Duff, Esq., general counsel of NAACP LDF, revealed the trials and triumphs of the NAACP LDF, the iconic and premier civil rights organization in the U.S., on its historic fight to dismantle the legal structures of segregation.
"Where once upon a time blacks were not even allowed to vote, now we have a black President of the U.S.," he says.
He stressed that while in today's time and age the legal institutions of segregation may have been abolished, racism and discrimination continue to be burning issues for all minorities in the U.S., Asians and Filipinos most definitely included.
"Hence, the need to continue to preserve the gains and, equally important, the need to be vigilant in the defense and preservation of one's civil rights," he said.
Duff joined the staff of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. in November 2008, as senior counsel, assisting the organization with special projects and assignments.
Since January 2009, he also has served as LDF's interim general counsel, advising LDF on internal legal matters and its institutional affairs agenda.
His three decades of civil rights practice included a stint of 10 years as a senior staff counsel to California's principal civil rights enforcement agency (DFEH), and six years as elected branch president of the Los Angeles NAACP.
Duff is a graduate of UCLA School of Law, which honored him with the 2004 Alumnus of the Year for Community Service.
Another speaker, Vincent Southerland, Esq., was assistant counsel in LDF's Criminal Justice Project.
He represents death sentenced prisoners in post conviction proceedings and engaging in advocacy around other criminal justice policy issues, discussed the mechanics of litigation and the various areas which a budding legal defense entity like FALDEF may wish to focus on.
Southerland also stressed the need for "branding."
"Whereas NAACP LDF is well-known for civil rights litigation, what area of what legal expertise should FALDEF be better known for?" he asked.
He also noted the importance of creating a network of alliances with organizations and institutions, both in the private and public sectors, to push the goals of FALDEF.
Southerland earned an LL.M. in trial advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center.
In 2002, he received his law degree cum laude from Temple University Law School, where he served as articles editor of the Temple Law Review.
He graduated summa cum laude in 1999 from the University of Connecticut, with a bachelor's degree in political science and sociology.
A lively exchange of ideas between panelists and attendees ensued in the Q&A session that followed the presentations.
For particulars, call JT Mallonga, FALDEF (917) 573-0263; Merit Salud, FALDEF (973) 441-3154; or Nimfa Tinana, FALDEF (212) 582-0658.
Bottle bomb prank ruins straight A teen's future
Elphbert Laforteza (c.) is comforted by his attorney, Daniel M. Smith (l.), outside the courthouse during his arraignment last year. At his side is his sister Nicole Laforteza. (San Diego Union-Tribune photo)
SAN DIEGO — Just a year ago, Elphbert Laforteza was graduating high school at the top of his class, a Most Valuable Player (MVP) football player and heading to college with a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) military scholarship when he got involved in a new kind of teen prank that would change the course of his promising young life.
Laforteza, now 19, was accused of bringing to San Ysidro High School in June 2009 a dozen bottle bombs he created at home after discovering it on YouTube.
It was the last day of school for seniors and students were having lunch when Laforteza and his friends set off five of the bottles in nearby concrete trash bins, thinking the series of pops would make harmless senior prank.
Instead of drawing laughs as they had hoped, the reaction was the opposite.
Immediately police arson and hazardous waste teams were called in and the school went into lockdown.
Three bottles were detonated by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department's bomb squad, and four others were found partly assembled.
The bombs were made in two-liter plastic bottles with acid and another ingredient that made the contents expand and explode, according to fire officials.
Students said they sounded like loud firecrackers.
Laforteza was arrested and charged with multiple counts of felony bomb-making.
The straight A student with no police record would spend the next five days in jail.
Other students involved in the incident have not been prosecuted.
"I really didn't think it was that bad," a remorseful and tearful Laforteza tells NBC's Natalie Morales in last week's interview for "Today."
It's a painful price authorities say more and more teens are paying, according to Morales.
"Across the country, bottle pranks are on the rise," she reports. "Bottle bombs are now so popular teens have posted thousands of videos online showing how to make them and blow them up for fun."
"But in the post-9/11 world, no one is laughing," she says.
More and more teenagers, she reports, have been arrested as felons for setting off bottle bombs as a joke.
"The felony charge will be the same as if we catch a terrorist with a bomb," a Massachusetts bomb investigator discloses to NBC.
The same investigator says most kids think these devices are safe because there's no fire.
But when the ingredients are mixed in a bottle and sealed, they create a high pressure explosion of acid and shrapnel that can go off when you least expected.
The explosion can cause potential blindness, burn skin, and even kill someone, he said.
Meanwhile, Laforteza was charged with possession of destructive items, materials to assemble an explosive device and having a destructive device near a school.
He was looking at a maximum sentence of six years in prison had he been convicted.
But in the end, a plea deal kept him out of prison.
He was immediately sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of possession of a destructive device and possession of materials to make a destructive device.
Judge Esteban Hernandez also ordered him to perform 30 days of public work service and follow any recommended program from the San Diego Burn Institute.
Nonetheless, his future remains on hold.
He received his diploma but was not allowed to march for graduation, and his ROTC scholarship at the Air Force Academy was taken away.
"The lesson is don't do it, you gotta learn from me, and to know it's not a joke," said Laforteza, who's now at summer school and hopes to get into a community college this fall.
Laforteza was named to the all-league football team for the South Bay League and to The San Diego Union-Tribune's all-academic football team.
His peers elected him class treasurer.
Laforteza's parents, both Filipino immigrants, told NBC they have no idea he was playing with bottle bombs.
They expressed hope that other parents talk to their kids about the dangers and the serious legal consequences of the popular prank.
School officials were one in saying that Laforteza was a good student who made one bad choice.
Murdered Fil-Am Marine laid to rest in CNMI
Charito Maliksi-Runge wails as the casket of her son, the late U.S. Marine Corporal Dave Michael Maliksi Santos, is lowered to its resting place on Thursday in his birthplace of Rota in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. (Photo by Haidee V. Eugenio)
U.S. Marine Corporal Dave Michael Maliksi Santos (photo above), who was allegedly killed by a fellow soldier in Afghanistan, was laid to rest last Thursday in his birthplace — Rota in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) — as hundreds of people gave Santos a hero's welcome.
Santos grew up in his mother's hometown of Bacoor, Cavite in the Philippines
On July 15, he was allegedly stabbed in the neck by a fellow Marine in Marjeh, Helmand Province in Afghanistan, where he was deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
His mother Charito Maliksi-Runge told GMANews.TV, "It's hard for me to accept he's gone. Kahit sino namang nanay mahihirapang tanggapin na wala na ang anak nila (Every mother couldn't easily accept the loss of a child). I will miss him."
Santos left behind a 20-year-old wife, Lotty Ann Santos, and a three-year-old son.
His father David Santos said believing that his son is now in heaven gives him comfort.
The father wants to meet the Marine who allegedly killed his son to ask him why he did it.
"I want closure. Like I said earlier, I don't have any hatred, I just want to know the truth, I want to see and talk to the person who killed my son and ask him why he did it," he said in an interview.
Authorities are still investigating the motive of the senseless killing.
The father said seeing the arrival of his son's body brings back memories of his nephew's arrival on Rota in 2007, also in a casket.
His nephew died of injuries from an improvised explosive device that blew up near their vehicle in Baghdad, Iraq where he was deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
CNMI officials, including acting Gov. Eloy Inos, members of the Senate and House of Representatives and former Lt. Gov. Jesse Borja, flew in from the CNMI capital of Saipan to attend the funeral.
Rota Mayor Melchor Mendiola said in a small island like Rota where the population is only about 3,000, the loss of one child is much felt.
He said the circumstances surrounding the Marine's death add to the pain and sense of loss felt by the community.
Ruth Coleman, the governor's special assistant for military and veterans affairs, said military personnel "left home to serve the country, and they will always come back as heroes."
Children of Filipino workers in Israel to be deported
Filipino workers and their children gather in Tel Aviv, Israel on Aug. 1, 2010 on the day the Israeli Government approved new residency criteria that could result in the deportations of hundreds of children of foreign migrant workers.
JERUSALEM — "I don't know what we will do tomorrow. I want to stay here," cried a Filipina mother, in reaction to the Israeli Government's decision on Sunday to deport some 400 children of migrant workers, mostly small children who were born in Israel, speak Hebrew and have never seen their parents' native countries.
A big chunk of those affected by the drastic move are offspring of undocumented Filipino workers, many of them work as caregivers.
About 200,000 migrant workers in Israel are mostly from the Philippines, China and Africa.
About half have overstayed their visas, thousands for many years.
Dozens of Filipino children took part in demonstrations since last week denouncing the plan.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the new policy was intended to stem a flood of illegal immigrants, whose children receive state-funded education and healthcare benefits, and to defend Israel's Jewish identity.
Critics, including some government officials, said the decision would punish children by sending them to impoverished or insecure nations that their parents had left in search of better lives in Israel.
The new policy is aimed at children of foreign workers who entered Israel with a valid visa or permit but have stayed on illegally and then started families.
Under Israeli law, the children are not automatically granted residency status.
About 400 children and their parents are expected to leave Israel over the next month.
An additional 800 children may qualify to stay and receive residency status if they meet certain requirements such as having lived for the last five years in Israel and attended grade school.
Affected are many Filipinos, who are mostly concentrated in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa.
The rest are said to be in Beersheva, Netanya, Rehovot and Rishon LeZion.
About a hundred are married to Palestinians and stay either in Gara or West Bank.
"On the one hand, this problem is a humanitarian problem," Netanyahu said during a meeting on Sunday of the Cabinet, which had debated the move for nearly a year. "We all feel and understand the hearts of children. But on the other hand, there are Zionist considerations and ensuring the Jewish character of the state of Israel.
"We don't want to create an incentive for the inflow of hundreds of thousands of illegal migrant workers," he said.
Child advocates acknowledged Israel's need to formulate a policy toward migrant workers but said rules should apply to future generations.
"We're talking about children here," said Rotem Ilan, chairwoman of Israeli Children, an advocacy group for migrant workers' families. "They are the children of people who came to Israel legally to work. We brought these people here to plow our fields, build our houses and take care of our grandparents. And with people come families."
She added: "It's the deportation of children that threatens Israel's Jewish character. The obligation to act with kindness and compassion to foreigners is the most frequently repeated commandment in the Torah."
The Cabinet's decision underscored Israel's ongoing struggle to cope with the estimated 250,000 to 400,000 foreign workers on its soil.
About half arrived illegally or have lapsed permits.
The decision was backed by 13 ministers, including Netanyahu.
Ten ministers voted against it, while four abstained.
During the stormy discussion, Labor Minister Ben-Eliezer shouted, "This isn't the Jewish state I know, expelling children out of it."
He added, "This is not the right time for the world to see the State of Israel deporting 400 children. We must set clear rules, from now onwards."
The committee had ruled that children who meet five criteria would be allowed to remain in Israel together with their parents:
The child studied during the past year in Israel's state school system, is enlisted for the upcoming school year in the first grade or higher, has lived for five consecutive years or more in Israel, and, if he was not born here, arrived before the age of 13.
In addition, the child must be a Hebrew speaker, and his parents must have entered Israel on a valid visa.
The government decided to ease the conditions on Sunday by adding a clause stating that the interior minister would consult the inter-ministerial committee on borderline cases.
Before the vote, Netanyahu told his ministers, "If this proposal does not pass, I will present the original proposal, which is much more harsh and dramatic. The proposal I have presented here includes easements."
Following this statement, some of the ministers changed their mind and voted in favor of the proposal.
The mainstream news media in Israel have largely sided with the children and their advocates.
The front page of the popular Yediot Aharonot newspaper on Monday featured a large picture of a boy, Eilon, age six, and his two-year-old sister, who are now eligible for deportation along with their mother Rachel, 37, who came to Israel from the Philippines in 2002.
"Someone there has lost his bearings," wrote Eitan Haber, a Yediot Aharonot columnist and a close aide to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the 1990s, in a op-ed published on Monday. "The State of Israel bombed nuclear reactors, reached Entebbe, wasted billions on light and heavy rail systems that don't move and paid hundreds of millions of shekels for years to people who did not contribute a single drop of sweat to the state. And now, 400 children, that is what will kill the state? Have you gone mad?"
But there were other voices, too.
"According to the report submitted to the government, there are 148,000 illegal residents in Israel," wrote Ben-Dror Yemini, a columnist at a rival newspaper, Maariv. "According to the logic that is taking over us," he continued, "they should have children, and this will be their insurance policy."
