MANILA, Philippines—Instead of a greener pastures, 140 Filipinas found themselves lagging behind a maltreatment from their employers. This were the conclusion of five Filipino prosecutors from the Department of Justice who visited Dubai to attend the international conference last November 2009. Amor Robles, Marlet Balagtas, Eden Wakay-Valdes, Elizabeth Berdal, and Lourdes Zapanta— saw other Filipinos shopping and strolling in the mall where many cashiers were Filipino women too, it became easier for them to believe that Pinay were better off in terms of employment in Dubai, compared to other Asian neighboring countries.
“One of the staff in the conference told us that they hire Filipinos because we are very reliable, hardworking, clean, pleasant, and always smiling,” said one of the Filipino workers.
But when the group made a courtesy call to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office days before leaving for Manila, their first im
pression was shattered. At the Filipino Workers Resource Center, which can accommodate about 25 people, they encountered 140 distressed Filipino women dying to go back to the Philippines, but couldn’t do so.
Bitter picture
According to Zapanta, these Filipino workers, aged between 20 and 40, were considered slaves, “abused either physically or sexually” by their foreign employers.
One of the victims narrated that she was frequently beaten up by her employer so she had no choice but to flee. This story was echoed by the experience of another, who suffered a graver fate when she escaped jumping from a window: The incident then left her with broken bones and black and blue all over. Another Filipino woman relayed how she was recruited and promised work as a waitress but ended up in the flesh trade. She said she was sexually abused by five men in one day. Her employer sold her to pay back the sum she spent for her fare.
“You know what’s sad about this?” Zapanta asked. “The one who fetched her and brought her to the place where she was abused was also a Filipino. It then makes us wonder if this Filipino, like her, is another victim or a party to the crime.”
Why they can’t come home
Zapanta said altering contracts without the knowledge of workers is common in this kind of trade. Dubai has no laws protecting domestic helpers, automatically rendering these Filipinos vulnerable to maltreatment, she said.
Since there are no existing laws that can favor the many ill-treated Filipino women in Dubai, it is hard to press charges against their employers. Even telling the authorities their stories after they successfully break free from abusive hands is difficult since the effort can work against them.
Usually, employers would counter the victim’s account of molestation by saying that she had engaged in a relationship with him, which is prohibited under the laws of Dubai. The Filipino faces the risk of arrest and detention.
Even personal pride gets in the way in running after the attackers. Who would want to wash her dirty linen in public? Zapanta said some of the victims do not want to file cases since they do not want to be the subject of ridicule or be considered a “failure.” Some of them conceal the hardships they experience abroad from their families back home. They refuse to speak so as not to aggravate the misery of their families back home.
“Others don’t want to come home even if they have continually been bruised and battered since they find no other options in the Philippines,” Zapanta said.
Another obstacle in filing a case, Zapanta pointed out, is the insufficiency of evidence. Or, some victims file cases for the wrong reason or wrong crime for lack of knowledge.
P100-M repatriation fund
Our government addresses these issues through Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers Act of 1995 and RA 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
Various government agencies have also introduced programs and projects in response to these laws.
However, the need for these legislations to be fully understood by all parties involved, especially the victims, remains a challenge. Some portions in implementing the laws remain unclear even to the prosecutors.
“In RA 8042, there was a mention of this repatriation fund which entitles distressed OFWs to (financial assistance) for their fare back home,” Zapanta said. “One of the most common reasons why Pinays, after being cleared abroad, can’t still come home is that they don’t have money for their fare. Now why hasn’t this fund reached those who need it? And how can OFWs avail of it?”
Ideally, according to the law, it is the agency which recruited and deployed the OFWs that should shoulder the repatriation costs of these workers—their belongings included—given that they are not terminated by their employers due to their own wrongdoing.
On, June 30, 2010, Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III was sworn in as the 15th president of the Republic of the Philippines. Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales and Jesuit Fr. Catalino Arevalo, a close friend of the Aquinos, who held the bible, swore in the only son of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino and former president Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. To most Filipinos, this day was very memorable because it symbolizes the beginning of a new hope for the country, the hope of a clean and honest government.
