October 05, 2008
MANILA, Philippines - An undocumented overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who earlier asked help from the Philippine government has escaped from her recruiter in Dubai, according to her brother.
Maria Caridad “Maricar" Laganzo fled her recruiter Sunday morning and was on her way to the nearest Philippine Embassy in the United Arab Emirates to seek assistance, her brother Randy told GMANews.TV in a text message.
"Katatawag lang ni Maricar. Tumakas na siya sa agency Al Doukhi Labour Supply owned by a certain Danah Barlaan, also a Filipina, (Maricar has just called up. She has escaped from Al Doukhi Labour Supply agency owned by a certain Danah Barlaan, also a Filipino)" said Randy in his text message.
Randy said that the owner of 7 Blessings, the local employment agency of Al Doukhi, also called him and told him that Laganzo’s escape was reported to the Dubai police.
He said his sister escaped with another Filipina.
“Binasag daw ang salamin ng agency. Kasama niya yung isa pang Pinay, Baby Ruth Sacdalan, na sinasaktan din ng amo at kinulong din sa agency (I was told by the owner of 7 Blessings that my sister broke the glass entrance of the agency and escaped with Baby Ruth Sacdalan, who was also being hurt by her employer and help up at the agency), " said Randy.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration on Friday said it was not in a position to help Laganzo because she is an undocumented OFW.
“On our part, wala kaming matetake na action dahil undocumented siya (we cannot take action because she is undocumented), maybe the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration can help them," said POEA Administrator Jennifer Manalili.
Philippine embassies, along with their labor and OWWA components, have a standing policy of helping any OFW, whether legally deployed or not.
But the POEA is limited to helping only the documented since its role is limited to regulating recruitment or manpower agencies. - D'Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Pinay held captive by UAE employment firm returns home
KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV
May 19, 2009
MANILA, Philippines - A Filipina worker who was once held like a prisoner by her employment firm in the United Arab Emirates has finally returned to the Philippines.
Overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Maria Caridad “Maricar" Evangelista Laganzo arrived in Manila via Gulf Air on Monday at 11:10 a.m.
Laganzo went to Dubai in October 2007 to work as a domestic helper but was reportedly maltreated by her employer who threw a chair at her, denied her proper wages, and even threatened to send her to jail.
But after several media people took interest in the plight of the 35-year-old OFW, her employer sent her back to her employment agency, the Al-Doukhi Labour Supply.
The agency then locked her inside a small kitchen without any ventilation and adequate food supplies. [See: Pinay held like a prisoner by UAE employment firm]
Having heard this, militant groups Anakpawis and Migrante International held a picket in front of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) office on October 3, 2008 to demand action on the plight of runaway OFWs in Middle East countries.
The POEA, however, said it was not in a position to help Laganzo because she is an undocumented OFW.
“On our part, wala kaming matetake na action dahil undocumented siya (we cannot take action because she is undocumented), maybe the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA_ can help them," said POEA Administrator Jennifer Manalili.
Philippine embassies, along with their labor and OWWA components, have a standing policy of helping any OFW, whether legally deployed or not.
The POEA, on the other hand, is limited to helping only the documented since its role is limited to regulating recruitment or manpower agencies.
Laganzo, meanwhile, escaped from her agency two days later.
She immediately went to the OWWA center in Dubai where support from the Filipino community poured in. [See: OFW escapes recruiter in Dubai, seeks help from RP embassy]
Anakpawis and Migrante then sought the help of Senator Manuel Villar, who is known for helping distressed OFWs, to help in the repatriation of Laganzo.
“Maricar’s family has long been waiting for her repatriation after her ordeal in the Middle East, and we are happy that she has returned safe and whole," said the senator. - GMANews.TV
May 19, 2009
MANILA, Philippines - A Filipina worker who was once held like a prisoner by her employment firm in the United Arab Emirates has finally returned to the Philippines.
Overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Maria Caridad “Maricar" Evangelista Laganzo arrived in Manila via Gulf Air on Monday at 11:10 a.m.
Laganzo went to Dubai in October 2007 to work as a domestic helper but was reportedly maltreated by her employer who threw a chair at her, denied her proper wages, and even threatened to send her to jail.
But after several media people took interest in the plight of the 35-year-old OFW, her employer sent her back to her employment agency, the Al-Doukhi Labour Supply.
The agency then locked her inside a small kitchen without any ventilation and adequate food supplies. [See: Pinay held like a prisoner by UAE employment firm]
Having heard this, militant groups Anakpawis and Migrante International held a picket in front of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) office on October 3, 2008 to demand action on the plight of runaway OFWs in Middle East countries.
The POEA, however, said it was not in a position to help Laganzo because she is an undocumented OFW.
“On our part, wala kaming matetake na action dahil undocumented siya (we cannot take action because she is undocumented), maybe the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA_ can help them," said POEA Administrator Jennifer Manalili.
Philippine embassies, along with their labor and OWWA components, have a standing policy of helping any OFW, whether legally deployed or not.
The POEA, on the other hand, is limited to helping only the documented since its role is limited to regulating recruitment or manpower agencies.
Laganzo, meanwhile, escaped from her agency two days later.
She immediately went to the OWWA center in Dubai where support from the Filipino community poured in. [See: OFW escapes recruiter in Dubai, seeks help from RP embassy]
Anakpawis and Migrante then sought the help of Senator Manuel Villar, who is known for helping distressed OFWs, to help in the repatriation of Laganzo.
“Maricar’s family has long been waiting for her repatriation after her ordeal in the Middle East, and we are happy that she has returned safe and whole," said the senator. - GMANews.TV
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
OFW raped, then jailed for adultery in UAE
MANILA, Philippines—An alliance of Filipino worker groups in the Middle East Monday called on the government to come to the aid of a Filipino woman who had complained that she was raped by her employer’s son but who ended up being jailed for adultery in the United Arab Emirates.
Migrante-Middle East said Wilma (not her real name) was languishing in the Ajman Central Jail in Dubai after she was charged with “sleeping with a man.”
“It’s really an unfortunate situation for her. This is usually what happens here to victims of sexual abuse because the perpetrator is clever enough to report the incident to the local police [and claim] that the victim had lured him and slept with him, offering herself, Migrante-Mideast regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said in a statement e-mailed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).
Monterona, who is based in Saudi Arabia, said Wilma’s plight was brought to Migrante’s attention by her distraught husband, who said she left for Dubai on March 27 after being hired as a hotel chambermaid.
The group passed on the information to Philippine Ambassador to UAE Libran Cabactulan.
Wilma had told her husband that she wanted to go home because she was given a job as a domestic, which was not what she expected. In her last text message on April 7, she said she had already told the recruitment agency of her intention to return home, the husband said in his letter to Migrante dated May 8.
Worried after not hearing from her for days, the husband and Wilma’s parents from Piddig, Ilocos Norte, contacted Wilma’s recruiter, the Manila-based Marvic Overseas Placement Agency.
On April 27, the agency informed the husband that Wilma had been raped by the son of her Arab employer.
“The agency said she was jailed because of ‘lying that she was raped,’ and that a medical exam proved [that she was not raped],” the husband said.
That night, he said, a sobbing Wilma finally contacted him using a pre-paid mobile phone, saying she was neglected by the agency. She confirmed that she was raped.
“We want to know what really happened to her and the status of her case. And more importantly, we want her brought back to the Philippines safe,” he said.
The husband also told Migrante that Wilma was scheduled to be arraigned without the benefit of a lawyer.
“In behalf of the husband and the family of Wilma, we are calling the attention of Philippine embassy officials to provide the needed assistance, most importantly, the hiring of a lawyer for her defense,” Monterona said.
Meanwhile, a Hong Kong-based migrants’ welfare advocacy group said 17 Filipino workers at a palm oil plantation in Sabah, Malaysia, had called for help because deductions from their already-measly salaries had put them in debt bondage.
The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) said it relayed the plight of the Sabah OFWs to the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur on April 29 but received no response. - Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Posted date: May 12, 2009
Migrante-Middle East said Wilma (not her real name) was languishing in the Ajman Central Jail in Dubai after she was charged with “sleeping with a man.”
“It’s really an unfortunate situation for her. This is usually what happens here to victims of sexual abuse because the perpetrator is clever enough to report the incident to the local police [and claim] that the victim had lured him and slept with him, offering herself, Migrante-Mideast regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said in a statement e-mailed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).
Monterona, who is based in Saudi Arabia, said Wilma’s plight was brought to Migrante’s attention by her distraught husband, who said she left for Dubai on March 27 after being hired as a hotel chambermaid.
The group passed on the information to Philippine Ambassador to UAE Libran Cabactulan.
Wilma had told her husband that she wanted to go home because she was given a job as a domestic, which was not what she expected. In her last text message on April 7, she said she had already told the recruitment agency of her intention to return home, the husband said in his letter to Migrante dated May 8.
Worried after not hearing from her for days, the husband and Wilma’s parents from Piddig, Ilocos Norte, contacted Wilma’s recruiter, the Manila-based Marvic Overseas Placement Agency.
On April 27, the agency informed the husband that Wilma had been raped by the son of her Arab employer.
“The agency said she was jailed because of ‘lying that she was raped,’ and that a medical exam proved [that she was not raped],” the husband said.
That night, he said, a sobbing Wilma finally contacted him using a pre-paid mobile phone, saying she was neglected by the agency. She confirmed that she was raped.
“We want to know what really happened to her and the status of her case. And more importantly, we want her brought back to the Philippines safe,” he said.
The husband also told Migrante that Wilma was scheduled to be arraigned without the benefit of a lawyer.
“In behalf of the husband and the family of Wilma, we are calling the attention of Philippine embassy officials to provide the needed assistance, most importantly, the hiring of a lawyer for her defense,” Monterona said.
Meanwhile, a Hong Kong-based migrants’ welfare advocacy group said 17 Filipino workers at a palm oil plantation in Sabah, Malaysia, had called for help because deductions from their already-measly salaries had put them in debt bondage.
The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) said it relayed the plight of the Sabah OFWs to the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur on April 29 but received no response. - Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Posted date: May 12, 2009
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