Remember the allegations that Filipino foreign diplomat was caught shopliftng at the US PX? Initially the Filipino Embassy in Seoul denied the allegations, but now they have changed their story and admitted that not only was a foreign diplomat involved in the incident, but the diplomat in question was in fact the Filipino ambassador herself:
After initially insisting "the published allegations are unfounded" and demanding a retraction, the Philippine mission to Seoul has admitted Manila’s top diplomat here was in fact stopped by store security personnel at the Post Exchange (PX) on the Yongsan U.S. military base and accused of shoplifting.
Ambassador Susan Castrence was responding to an article published in The Korea Herald on June 18 that reported a high-ranking Philippine diplomat had allegedly shoplifted from the American military base in Seoul.
The ambassador is none to happy with the original Korea Herald article on this incident:
The story was picked up by media in Manila, and on June 28 the Philippine Star reported, "A Filipino diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the report (in The Korea Herald) was ‘fabricated’ and was part of a campaign to put the Philippine Embassy and officials of the diplomatic mission in a bad light."
However, on June 29, other media outlets printed extracts from a press release in which Ambassador Castrence admitted an incident took place. The press release was limited to Philippine media outlets and was not copied to The Korea Herald. Castrence explained, "At that time we were really very preoccupied with visits from VIPs from the Philippines, and actually I felt bad toward The Korea Herald because I thought you should have contacted me first before printing that article."
The reports in Manila also quoted sources from the Philippine Foreign Affairs Ministry as saying they were considering possible legal action against The Korea Herald.
In fact the Korea Herald contacted the Filipino embassy in order to talk to the ambassador about the incident before the article was ever published, but were stonewalled by the embassy:
Castrence criticized The Korea Herald for failing to check the facts before publishing the story: "You should have talked to me before you published that article. I am supposedly a very accessible person here. If you had talked to me, as I would have expected a reporter would do before publishing such a damaging story, I would have appreciated that. But, as far as I am concerned, there was no effort to reach me."
In fact, The Korea Herald made repeated attempts to get a statement from embassy officials.
When Consul Juan Dayang, who acts as the public affairs officer for the embassy, was first approached for a statement, he denied any knowledge of the incident. Castrence later admitted to The Korea Herald that despite the seriousness of the incident, she did not report it or discuss it with any of her senior staff.
"Well, it was such an unpleasant experience to have been mistaken for doing something like that. I am a very private person," she said. "Because that case as far as I know is closed, so what is the purpose for me to even talk about something that was very unpleasant?"
To make matters worse, Consul Dayang reportedly did not inform Castrence that the media were making inquiries.
"Jed (Dayang) did not let me know that you had called him, because he believed it was a rumor and should not be dignified with a response, and I believe he did not want me bothered with that," Castrence said.
Then the ambassador should be blaming her staff and not the Korea Herald for running the story if she is so upset that her side of the story was not presented. Anyway here is the ambassadors side of the story:
According to her press statement, in November 2006 she went into the PX to shop for Christmas presents for her staff and grandchild.
She had taken with her a karaoke microphone chip (that she said was purchased earlier at the PX) to use as a reference for a further purchase. After examining another chip at the store, Castrence decided against a purchase "because it did not contain children’s songs." She returned the original chip to her bag.
"This must have been the moment caught by the camera which gave the impression of shoplifting," the statement read.
The statement continued to say the ambassador then went to the store’s perfume department, where she tried some Gucci perfume but found it too expensive and returned it to the counter. As Castrence attempted to leave the store she was stopped by security officers who inspected her bag and found the chip she had brought with her.
The ambassador claims it was all a mistake and handled on the spot. However, if it was handled on the spot then why was an MP report filed:
But the incident does not appear to have been as simple as the ambassador stated. The Provost Marshal’s record indicates that on Nov. 28, 2006, Castrence was suspected of shoplifting a karaoke microphone chip and a bottle of Gucci perfume worth $118.60.
When asked why the authorities would fill out a shoplifting report if the incident was in fact closed on the spot, Castrence declined to offer any further information.
If she returned the Gucci perfume to the counter then why was it included in the MP report? I think the ambassador is not being forthcoming on this and that is why General Bell has taken action against allowing Filipino diplomats to use the facilities at Yongsan which ultimately led to the Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alberto Gatmaitan Romulo to visit Yongsan to try and smooth things over.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out, but if the average USFK servicemember can be held accountable for shoplifting than diplomats should be held accountable as well.
You can read more about this incident over at the Marmot’s Hole.
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8:27 am on July 5th, 2007 1
I thought it was one of the lower level Pinoy diplomat. Not THE Ambassador!!!! WOW!!! Now I know why the RP Secretary of State stop by Seoul to see USFK CDR. How embarrassing.
9:56 am on July 5th, 2007 2
I thought pretty much everything fell under diplomatic immunity - and the only possible prosecution is if the country agreed to allow prosecution…
12:58 pm on July 5th, 2007 3
Actually, the Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs stopped by Seoul to explain to General Bell that he needed some money so his sick mother could get an operation.
4:58 pm on July 5th, 2007 4
I’m sure she will not be prosecuted by USFK but I think General Bell is lobbying punishment on the Filipino diplomats as a whole until the Filipino government decides to do something about the shoplifting incident.
4:58 pm on July 5th, 2007 5
the MP’s write a report for everything so the fact a report was made does not mean she did it and in fact she admittedly put something in her purse which she said was an accident
so there had to a report made with both sides of the story
now as for the perfume can not say however
i completely on accident had about 3 or 4 items in my hands one day and was looking for my wallet when i put a bar of soap in a cargo pocket and completely forgot about it when checking out
i went back in and paid for it after the fact
9:45 pm on July 5th, 2007 6
I agree with you McNut - I think it would be very easy to get distracted or lost in thoughts and walk out of the PX with something - almost did it a couple of times myself. I am not debating whether she actually shoplifted or not - just think this whole thing could have been handled differently if, from the beginning, they had explained their position. The problem that I faced with the Philippine Embassy is already given in the articles. As for USFK and the American Embassy - they would not deny or confirm if the incident happened.
Do MPs write a report about everything - possibly, and very likely in a situation like this involving a diplomat. However, why include the price of the items and list them as the perfume and the chip?
4:49 am on July 6th, 2007 7
Everybody seems to have missed something here….
-Why would a diplomat from another country even have PX priviledges in the first place?
-Is there something in US law that allows this?
-Was Her Excellency married to a US soldier with access to post?
-What other countries’ diplomats have access to post and PX/commissary priviedges?
-Who has granted these priviledges, and do they even have the authority to do so?
Inquiring minds want to know.
4:57 am on July 6th, 2007 8
If you have a friend on post who has commissary privileges, they can sign you in at the gate. Possibly a friend from Philippines, married to a US soldier, was the one to sign her in…
8:33 am on July 6th, 2007 9
I believe General Bell has the authority to give foreign diplomats access to the PX because I have seen foreign soldiers for example using the PX so foreign diplomats being allowed to use the PX seems likely as well.
If she just took the karaoke chip then I could believe she just forgot, but if she did take the perfume and it is on film and was found with it by the MPs then I have to think it was intentional. Her dishonesty after the fact only adds to the controversy.
Either way not very diplomatic behavior.
11:34 am on July 6th, 2007 10
The MPs don’t write the statement until after they view the security cameras and talk with the store security personnel, as well as the alleged shoplifter. If and when the MPs determine they have enough evidence, they charge the person and fill out the report. The shoplifter is also asked to make a signed statement, which becomes part of the final report.
12:15 pm on July 6th, 2007 11
1:10 pm on July 6th, 2007 12
Glad to know my tax dollars are well-spent shipping designer perfumes to Korea. Wouldn’t want some poor general to bother with duty-free at the airport.
1:29 pm on July 6th, 2007 13
Something else is suspicious about the ambassador’s version of the incident. Small, expensive items like chips and memory cards are packaged to discourage shoplifting, and in the US, they are often kept behind the counter or in a locked cabinet. How secured is valuable merchandise in the PX?
5:11 pm on July 6th, 2007 14
You can’t just sign in for commissary access at the main gate - or at least you shouldn’t. Access to the base does not automatically include access to the commissary or PX - a ration control card is needed.
Foreign governments with an agreement with the US also get access. As far as I’m aware it’s some offshoot of the whole United Nations “Joint” Command thing, nothing joint about that nowadays but don’t be surprised to see a variety of European, among other regions’ diplomats on base.
Too much of the responsibilty for making sure people don’t abuse base privileges and access is given to people that just don’t care. The “guards”, despite their camoflauge uniforms, are contractors that turn a blindeye to most illegal activities Korean nationals do on base.
Want to try? Ask your friend with base access to slip you their ID card through the fence _in_front_ of the guard, then present the ID to the guard; helps if you are a middle-aged Korean woman. All it takes is one.
6:47 pm on July 6th, 2007 15
SHOULDN’T happen and DOESN’T happen are mutually exclusive… and the Republic of the Philippines IS part of the UN joint command (last time I checked). Just because she can’t shop in the PX doesn’t mean she can’t give her friend items to purchase and the money to do so….
By the way, things like this may be one of the reasons the US decided to shut down all of it’s bases in the Philippines….
12:00 am on July 8th, 2007 16
For those interested - I thought I would post the link to the latest article about this incident.
https://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2007/07/07/200707070003.asp
Reportedly one of the Philippine journalist/activist who spends half his time in Korea and the other half back home has interviewed some of the people involved with the incident.
“According to Mark Padlan, a journalist and Kasammako executive committee member who is currently in Manila, the manager of the PX, knowing that Castrence is a diplomat, approached her in a bid to resolve the matter discreetly so as to avoid any embarrassment.
“In response,” the press release said, “Castrence told the manager she wanted to smoke a cigarette first before they talk. In the act of taking and lighting the cigarette out of her bag, she dropped the stolen items and kicked them back inside the PX shop. She then tried to deny any wrongdoing.’”
10:07 am on July 8th, 2007 17
[...] information about the shoplifting Filipino ambassador has been released and needless to say this whole episode gets more and more interesting with every [...]
7:10 pm on July 10th, 2007 18
I want to thank Robert Neff for exposing the ambassador. I was outraged by how the Philippine government and the higher (and most likely corrupt officials) are handling the incident. I don’t blame the USFK for banning the other Filipinos from entering the base, but had they handled the matter meticulously and properly, it wouldn’t have resulted out like this.
Damn because of this person I can’t attend classes on base anymore!
Makes me mad, and I didn’t even do anything!
12:02 pm on April 8th, 2008 19
If the “top of the food-chain” filipinos are getting busted, one can get a clear idea of what the other filipinos are doing…..
12:45 pm on April 9th, 2008 20
Filipinos are criminals…cut & dry! Just check out any of their local newspapers on-line and you will get an ear full of how corrupt (No. 1 in Asia) they are.
When caught, as this thief was, they will lie their ass off, then try and turn it all around, making false accusations that it is really all someone else’s fault.
I am sure that this thieving Philippine ambassador immediately contacted local Philippine jounalists in order to try and put her own spin on it.
All Philippine diplomatic personnel should not only be barred from U.S. bases, but also from having anything to do with the U.S. military…period!