Pinay held like a prisoner by UAE employment firm

GMANews.TV
September 30, 2008

MANILA, Philippines – Another Filipina worker in the United Arab Emirates is asking the Philippine government to help her escape her allegedly abusive employer, who has been holding her like a prisoner.

Relatives and friends of Maria Caridad E. Laganzo relayed the plea of help to GMANews. TV on Tuesday.

Laganzo's brother, Randy Evangelista, said his family learned of his sister's plight last September 9: "My sister called us to seek for immediate help as she planned to escape from her abusive employer. I was able to seek help from OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) to make sure that my sister is safe. According to Maricar, she was immediately taken from her employer to her agency. And matters turned from bad to worse."

Maricar is in the custody of her employment agency, Al-Doukhi Labour Supply, which is operated by a Ms. Danah Barlaan.

"My sister is a victim of an abusive employer, a dogged illegal recruiter, and now, she is all alone in a foreign land, illegally jailed, while her four small children await for news of her return," Evangelista said.

According to him, Maricar is virtually held as a prisoner of the agency, and the owner has been threatening to have her thrown in jail if they fail to pay the agency for their employment contract.

At present, Maricar is the only Filipina left detained in the agency, locked inside a small, kitchen without any ventilation. Her communication lines are closed and her family has no way of confirming her condition.

Ferlie Ann Navarro, also one of those previously detained in the agency, was able to pay her way back to the Philippines and can attest to the abuses and suffering that Maricar has been experiencing, Maricar's brother said. - D'Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV