The Blas F. Ople Policy Center slammed yesterday the inhumane treatment of five Filipina domestic workers under the employ of a retired general in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and sought an investigation of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh that handled their complaints.
The five overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) arrived in Manila last Sept. 2, but sought the help of the non-profit organization known for assisting victims of human trafficking to reveal how they were treated like slaves by the retired Saudi general’s family.
According to their testimonies, the women experienced physical and verbal abuse from employers, General Ayed Al Jeaid and wife, Fetnah Metrek Al Qahtani as well as the head Filipino housekeeper or “mayordoma”, Anita Cielo. The overseas domestic workers said their employer’s 25-year old daughter was a drug addict who also subjected them to beatings especially when the latter was high. The women’s mobile phones and passports were confiscated on their first day of work, with warnings given against contacting any member of their family.
Refusing to use aliases, the five women said they wanted the former Saudi general to know that they will continue to fight for their rights and all other abused Filipino domestic workers now that they are back in their home country. The five women are: Analyn Villena, Mary Grace Bag-O, Ma. Cristina Quiachon, Annaliza Parayno And Ely Mae Merioles Ocampo.
“We will use our real names because we want the general to know that we have not given up the fight, and that we have informed our own government of how they treated us like slaves while working in their mansion,” Analyn said. She said they decided to come out in the open to shame their employers and also to ask the government to investigate perceived lapses in the handling of their case by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh. They also called on the immediate recovery and repatriation of five other Filipino domestic workers that the said family were still able to employ even after the complainants were turned over to the Philippine Embassy.
Showing copies of their e-tickets, the workers said that POLO Riyadh negotiated a settlement with their employers worth 12,000 riyals which included payments for their air tickets home. However, they alleged that POLO Riyadh promised to include them in the government’s repatriation flights so that they could save on the air ticket fees and bring home the 12,000 riyals to their families. Instead, the POLO staff booked them on commercial flights using the 5,000 riyals from their settlement to pay for the air tickets.
In a press conference arranged by the Ople Center, the five OFWs appealed to the labor department to reimburse their payments for the commercial air tickets so that they have more to bring home to their families. They also sought the help of the government in investigating the continuous hiring of Filipino kasambahays by the abusive general and his family considering the string of complaints against them dating back to 2019. This year, the said employer was able to hire two Filipino domestic workers who lasted only three months, and two months, respectively, due to incessant beatings, lack of sleep, and deprivation of contact with their families.
Susan Ople, president of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and a former labor undersecretary, noted that the same employer was able to hire the five “kasambahays” by using different names on POEA-approved job contracts. OFW Mary Grace Bag-O’s contract was processed by Leila International Services, Inc, while ERRX Recruitment Consulting recruited OFWs Ma. Cristina Quiachon and Analyn Villena this year. Annaliza Parayno and Ely Mae Ocampo were recruited by WiseRecruit Corp to work for the general’s family in 2019.
According to the OFWs, the POLO staff told the maltreated women that the wealthy, retired general had enormous clout within the Kingdom and it would be difficult to ask the employer to appear before the POLO.
“Ang sabi po sa amin ng taga-POLO kung magpupursige kami sa pagkaso sa heneral baka abutin kami ng taon doon sa Saudi at baligtarin lang kami ng aming mga employers,” the women told the Ople Center. (“We were told by POLO that if we continue with the case against the general we could be in Saudi Arabia for years and our employers can also turn the table against us.”)
Susan Ople, an anti-human trafficking advocate, said that such an attitude on the part of POLO officers and staff was inexcusable. Instead of giving the workers hope, the POLO staff merely aggravated the fears and anxiety of the OFWs. “They could have viewed this case as a possible forced labor trafficking violation, and sought the help of the ATN officer, the DSWD attache, and the Saudi firm enlisted by the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh to assist distressed OFWs. All the elements were there: confiscation of passports, deprivation of freedom, and the use of force and intimidation. From the start, this should have been treated as more than just the usual labor violations.”
25-year old Elle Mae Ocampo told reporters that they were slapped multiple times every day, and that the employer’s wife would grab and pull their hair leaving them with bald spots.
Mary Grace Bag-o also experienced being beaten up by her employers and having to eat outside the bathroom with food brought by the other OFWs because she had no time to eat or rest.
Analyn, one of the OFWs, said she feared for her life, and wanted her family to know what was going on but they were not allowed to communicate with their families. They were only allowed to leave the household by batches after they threatened the general of exposure through media channels in the Philippines. The general relented and allowed one of them or two of them to leave until all five were able to seek refuge in the embassy.
The employer’s daughter also demanded that Analyn roll her drugs, which alternated between shabu and marijuana. Fearful for her life, Analyn told the female employer that her son was high, which led to more beatings from the son’s enraged mother. At one time, the OFW fell asleep due to sheer fatigue and the daughter pressed a lighted cigarette to her throat to wake her up.
“There was not one day when we were spared from physical abuse,” the women told the Ople Center.
The Ople Center said that it would formally write to the DFA to ask for legal assistance in behalf of the aggrieved OFWs so that proper charges could be filed against the former general and other abusive household and family members. The policy center would also write the DoLE to seek a probe into how the case was handled, and why the general was still able to hire OFWs as domestic workers despite a long string of complaints filed by former employees.
“We have hired a lawyer to help the ‘courageous five’ in the legal battles ahead. OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac has also pledged to help the five victims through OWWA’s livelihood and scholarship programs. Philippine Ambassador to Riyadh Adnan Alonto also promised the Ople Center that it would look deeper into the case and that the embassy has filed a Note Verbale with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to request for assistance,” Susan Ople said.
Based on the testimonies of the five women, the Ople Center observed the following gaps in the embassy’s handling of their case, which the policy center hopes can be further investigated by the Philippine ambassador as well as DoLE, the DFA, and IACAT:
1. They were not asked if they needed counseling and/or medical treatment while under the POLO’s care despite their account of what happened. The POLO could have referred them to the DSWD attache for appropriate care.
2. They were not given the chance to face their employers for conciliation, with the POLO dealing instead with an emissary that brought the 12,000 riyals in an envelope for the workers to receive in exchange for a waiver in pursuing further charges against the employers and/or agencies concerned.
3. They could have boarded a repatriation flight instead of a commercial flight so that they could bring home the money given by their employer for air tickets, on humanitarian grounds.
4. They could have been given access to a Saudi lawyer who could have fought for their rights and a much bigger settlement considering that the case goes beyond the usual labor contractual violations.
“Let’s walk the talk when we say no Filipino is a slave by making sure that this sadistic family is exposed to the public and reported to the Saudi authorities for harming our women,” Ople said, adding that the POLO should be the first to raise hell over such abuses instead of being in a hurry to ship the women home for fear of reprisal from the abusive, retired general.
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