Duterte to CIDG: Exercise caution in probing Indian

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte urged the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 11 to be cautious in its investigation of an Indian national at the center of complaints by Indian medical students of the Davao Medical School Foundation (DMSF).
“We do not want a diplomatic fiasco here,” he said in an interview with reporters on Friday night.
The mayor said the CIDG should get the side of Davao Medical Education Management Services (DMEMS) chief operating officer Ashin Mohan before it files a case against him.
“Ipatawag siya (Invite him). The right to be heard is very important,” the mayor said.
Duterte, however, said it will still be up to Mohan if he will appear before the CIDG or not.
“Basta nay proseso ana (There is a process for that). We must honor that,” he said.
The CIDG 11 had recommended the filing of slight illegal detention and grave coercion cases against Mohan based on the complaints aired by a number of Indian medical students at the DMSF.
In its initial report submitted to Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, the CIDG said it appears that Mohan violated the rights of Indian students by not allowing them to hold and secure their own passports and alien certificate of registration (ACR).
“Reportedly, some of the students did not even know the status of their visa. This matter should be discussed and should be brought to the attention of the Alien Control Officer of Bureau of Immigration,” the report said.
The report also said Transworld Education Academy Pvt. Ltd, led by its Chief Operating Officer Dr. David Pillai whose company partners with DMSF to bring Indian students here, and Mohan were “capitalizing on their familiarity with the area, knowledge of the operation of the government agencies, and influence with the DMSF for the advancement of their business and to make these students cower from opposing them.”
The CIDG report said the Indian students are not allowed to transfer dormitories of their own choice at any given time and are threatened with deportation and failing grades if they go against Mohan.
The CIDG noted that while the house rules being imposed to maintain cleanliness and orderliness “somehow help the students to conduct themselves properly and prevent them from roaming around doing other things which might affect their studies,” it is “not a valid reason… to violate the rights of the foreign students.”