Recruiter: Gov't obliged to look after slain OFW after agency shutdown
Updated Mar 4, 2018 2:24:00 AM
This story was updated to include statements from Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) — The recruiter of slain household helper Joanna Demafelis said the government was obliged to keep tabs on the situation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) after its agency's license was revoked in 2014.
The legal counsel of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Global E-Human Resources Inc., Demafelis' recruitment agency, on Friday said looking after its OFW clients is not the recruiter's responsibility once a license is canceled.
Lawyer Jude Marfil said the recruitment agency legally processed Demafelis' papers so she could work in Kuwait in May 2014.
Marfil, who represents the agency's former assistant manager Mary Gey Abrantes, said Mt. Carmel applied to renew its license in November 2014. But the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) suspended the company due to a violation.
Marfil said the suspension was lifted after the company paid a P750,000 fine.
But despite the payment, the company was not allowed to renew its license after it failed to submit required documents on time.
"There's a statement by then POEA administrator Hans Cacdac that the duty to monitor is not included in the license," he said. "But our argument is it's a very absurd situation that you require the agency to operate for the purpose of monitoring. When in fact, the primary function of monitoring is with the POEA. Ang hirap po kasi nagtuturuan kung sino ang liable [It's hard because people are pointing fingers on who's liable]."
He said Agnes Tuballes, the person who allegedly referred Demafelis to Mt. Carmel, is not connected with the company.
However, he confirmed that Marissa Ansaji Mohammed, the person who allegedly recruited the OFW, was a former company trainee.
The agency, however, is unaware about the alleged P13,000 commission that Tuballes supposedly received from Mt. Carmel through Mohammad.
Marfil said the company did not give any commission to anyone at the time.
Adrian Briones, a former president of the recruitment agency, also said he is no longer connected with the company when Demafelis was recruited. He said he divested his interests in 2012.
But records of the National Bureau of Investigation show he was the registered owner of Mt. Carmel in 2014.
They are also at a loss on how Joanna extended or renewed her two-year contract in Kuwait after the original contract expired in May 2016.
"Wala pong nakakaalam kung bakit o sino ang employer niya during the renewal. But yung ginawa niya po na pag-extend more than the two-year period, she already ran the risk of being an undocumented worker," he said.
[Translation:Nobody knows why or who was her employer during the renewal. But getting an extension beyond the two-year period, she already ran the risk of being an undocumented worker.]
"'Pag undocumented worker ka po, wala ka nang protection, wala nang agency na joint and solidary liability sa Philippines. It was her own initiative na nag-renew siya," he added.
[Translation:If you're an undocumented worker, you have no more protection, there is no more joint liability for the agency in the Philippines. It was on her own initiative that she renewed.]
But speaking to CNN Philippines Saturday, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III reasoned agencies should ensure the safety of the workers they deploy.
"When you are an agency and you deploy an overseas worker, you should see to it that while she's there... she's properly protected. 'Yung provisions of the contract are observed," he said, when asked if the agency should be held liable.
Bello questioned why the agency was suspended in the first place.
"Kasi they're claiming na wala silang liability dahil na cancel sila... Eh di nila sinabi baka cinancel sila dahil dun sa pinabayaan nila si Joanna," Bello said.
[Translation: They're claiming they don't have any liability because they were canceled... They didn't mention it but maybe they were canceled because they didn't take care of Joanna.]
He added, they are also investigating the possibility that Demafelis was passed on to another employer.
The NBI said it will carry out a thorough investigation even as former company officials pledged to cooperate.
Demafelis' body was found in a freezer in Kuwait in January, with authorities believing she was killed in November 2016. Her death prompted the total deployment ban and the immediate repatriation of distressed OFWs from Kuwait.
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