This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 6, March 11-17, 2007
MIGRANT WATCH
Stories of Abuse and Courage of Women OFWs
There seems to be no end to the stories of rape and abuse committed against
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Sad and horrifying as it is, Bulatlat
decided to write their stories in an effort to call the attention of the
government, and to contribute to the efforts of migrant rights advocates in
promoting and defending the rights of OFWs and seeking justice for victims of
abuse. Here are the stories of two women-victims. BY
AUBREY SC MAKILAN There seems to be no end to
the stories of rape and abuse committed against overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Sad and horrifying as it is, Bulatlat decided to write their stories in
an effort to call the attention of the government, and to contribute to the
efforts of migrant rights advocates in promoting and defending the rights of
OFWs and seeking justice for victims of abuse, most especially women. Here are the stories of two
women-victims. 16-year old victim
“Isa” (not her real name),
a 16-year old Moro girl working as a domestic helper in Kuwait, is the most
recent reported case of rape committed against women OFWs.. Gil Lebria, coordinator of
Migrante International in Kuwait, reported the rape and maltreatment of Isa in
an email to the Philippine office of Migrante. Lebria said that he first learned
about the rape of Isa when a Muslim group in Kuwait, which was approached by
Isa’s brother, sought Migrante’s assistance. Lebria said that Isa’s
brother told him that he first approached the Philippine Overseas Labor Office
(POLO) shelter in Kuwait but the government office refused to handle his
sister’s case. Isa’s brother reportedly told Lebria that a POLO official said
that it is not their job to handle OFW cases. The government official claimed
that it is the recruitment agency’s job to report the matter to the police and
to ensure that the proper medical procedures are undertaken. It was after the POLO’s
refusal to help did they approach Migrante to help locate and rescue his sister. Immediately, Lebria said,
they approached Assistant Labor Attaché Emy Sto.
Domingo who advised them to talk with POLO officer Ruth Tan. Hostile When they approached Tan,
however, they were told that she was too busy to accommodate them, Lebria said.
But he noticed that POLO personnel were taking his pictures. “Diplomatic naman ang
pakikitungo ko sa kanila pero ba’t po ako tinuturing nilang kaaway?,”
(I deal with them diplomatically but why is it that they treat me as their
enemy?) Lebria asked. He added that Philippine
government officials in Kuwait are quite nice in front of him. “Pero ‘pag
wala po ako..dapat mamatay na raw ‘yang migrante sa Kuwait. Pahirap lang sa emba
(Embassy) at sa trabaho nila,”(When I am not around they would exclaim that
they hope Migrante members in Kuwait would die. They claimed that we are making
the work of the Philippine embassy more difficult.) Lebria said quoting his
sources. At the moment, Isa is still
working with her employer who raped her. She has not yet been located and
rescued. “Lina’s” story It was “Lina’s” first time
to work abroad in December last year. But her dream to give a better life to her
family turned into a nightmare. Lina, 29, left his husband
and two children in Cotabato City to work as a domestic helper in Fujaira,
United Arab Emirates. Since the start she noticed
inconsistencies in her supposed employment. In her pre-departure orientation
seminar (PDOS), she was told that she was to work as a repacker and not as a
domestic helper. She also noticed that different agencies were handling her:
Ledmer Human Resources recruited her but when she received her certificate of
completion of her PDOS, Lucky International was identified as her recruitment
agency; when she arrived in UAE, another agency the Emerates accommodated her.
She was also allowed to
leave the Philippines without signing a labor contract with the recruitment
agency. In fact, she only learned that her monthly salary amounted to 600
dirhams ($163 at an exchange rate of $1= 3.6720 UAE dirhams) when she arrived at
the UAE. As it turned out, Lina
worked as a domestic helper for an Arab couple with 13 children. Although she
rarely looked after the couple’s children, she did all the chores in the
mansion, including washing and ironing all their clothes, cooking, and cleaning
the house. She worked from 4:30 a.m.
up to midnight, sometimes up to 2 a.m. the next day if the family had visitors.
She was able to eat her only meal at 2 p.m.. She was lucky if she was given
kubos (bread) for breakfast and dinner. Her hands and feet have
burns. She suspects that it was caused by the detergent and disinfectant she
was using in hand-washing all the clothes of her employer’s family. Since she began working
with the family, she constantly lived in fear of her male employer. He would hug
her and touch her body, and would sometimes show her his penis, she said. Lina
could only complain to her husband over the phone. Her worst fears became a
reality just a week after she arrived at the mansion. After taking a bath, she
was shocked when her male employer, who is in his 50’s, entered her room. Her
employer raped her right there and then and told her not to tell anyone as no
one would believe her. When she told the family
about the rape incident, their response was “You’re gago,” (You’re a
fool.) she quoted the family as saying. She also did not have a
contact number of the Philippine embassy in Dubai so she told the incident to
her husband and sister. It was her family who approached Migrante for help. Migrante’s Ma. Teresa
Bautista, who was in UAE, reported her case to Fujaira police. With another
Overseas Filipino worker (OFW) rape victim, Bautista went to the police station
in Fujaira on Feb. 5. The police asked Lina’s employer to bring her to the
station. The employer was reprimanded when he went to the police station with
his daughter instead of Lina. When Lina was finally taken
to the station, her employer denied raping her. He instead said that it was Lina
who asked him to buy things for her. But Lina said it was her
employer who offered to buy her things. She said she only asked if she could
have toiletries, like shampoo, napkin, toothpaste, and soap, since she was not
allowed to leave the house. Miserable After spending the night at
Bautista’s house, she was brought to the Philippine Embassy to report her case.
Her six-day stay there was miserable, she said. “’Di kami nag-ulam nang
masagana,” she said, “Minsan puro itlog, talong. May isda man di mo naman
makita ang isda, ulo na lang. Yung munggo di mo maintindihan. Konti lang puro
sabaw.” (We did not have a decent meal. They fed us only eggs, eggplant,
fish head, and diluted mung bean soup.) There were about 100 OFWs
cramped at the shelter, she said. They were victims of unpaid salaries,
maltreatment, and even rape like her. The Emirates shouldered her
plane ticket. But before being given the ticket, she was told by Philippine
embassy officials to copy and sign a waiver. She said that she was told to write
in the waiver that if not for a certain Ma’am Ching, her agency would not
provide her ticket. Also included in the waiver was a provision that she would
not file a complaint. Lina wants to file charges
against her employer and agency. She also wants to retrieve her personal
belongings which were left at her employers’ house and claim her unpaid salary. The courage of victims
and women The Migrant Rights and
Welfare Committee of Migrante International is handling four rape cases since
January, and has handled another four cases from August to December last year. Migrante case officer
Jonathan Panlilio said there could be more undocumented rape cases with OFWs as
victims, including those that were not reported by the victims to Philippine
embassies and those that were reported but are being kept from the public’s
knowledge. Despite what happened to
them, the four
raped OFWs, including Lina,
joined thousands of women, led by Gabriela and Gabriela Women’s Party, in a
program at Liwasang Bonifacio and a march to Mendiola on the occasion of
International Women’s Day last March 8. Among the OFWs who joined the program
was
Carmelita Lagata who worked as a
domestic helper in Kuwait before suffering a broken spine after she ran away
from her employer who she felt had evil intentions on her. "On the occasion of
International Women's Day, we salute them and the countless other women OFWs who
toil, sacrifice and overcome much in their bid to give themselves and their
families a decent life,” said Maita Santiago, Migrante International
Secretary-General, “They are survivors and fighters whose very lives are a
testament to the intense injustices women suffer under the Arroyo regime.” According to Migrante,
seven out of ten Filipino migrants are women, most of them working as domestic
helpers. The group cited data from surveys regarding OFWs which revealed that
women migrants were generally younger than men: the largest age group for women
being 25 to 29 years (14.2 percent) while for men 45 years and above (11.1
percent). Majority of OFWs, the group added, are categorized as laborers and
unskilled workers with the most number in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Kuwait,
Lebanon and Jordan. The “marginalized
positions” in their host countries make them vulnerable to various forms of
violence, said Santiago. Meanwhile, GWP third
nominee Flora Belinan noted that the heightening “oppression and exploitation of
women migrants” underlined the urgent need for progressive policies that will
genuinely address their plight. "Instead of extortionist
policies like the new POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration)
guidelines for household service workers, women migrants need a pro-OFW charter
that will truly advance their interests," said Belinan, an OFW leader who worked
as a domestic worker in Hong Kong for 10 years. Belinan also said that
March is also significant for the migrant sector because March 17 is the death
anniversary of Flor Contemplacion, a domestic worker who was hanged in
Singapore. Contemplacion’s case created a groundswell of protest and put the
issue of migrant workers in the public’s consciousness. Belinan said that GWP and
Migrante International will continue to launch activities and mass actions to
expose “not only the worsening reality but also the fighting spirit of migrant
women under the Arroyo government.” Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
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