Underage OFWs abused by employers in Jordan

MANILA, Philippines - After months of calling on Philippine officials to facilitate their repatriation from Jordan, nine overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), five of them minors, breathed a collective sigh of relief on Monday afternoon following their arrival in Manila.

Now that they have returned home, the OFWs begin to tell their tragic experiences in the hands of their employers.

“My male employer punched me then dragged me to the living room. Fearing that neighbors might hear me cry, he dragged me again behind the door, where I was made to sit," an underage female OFW told GMANews' reporter Lei Alviz in Filipino.

A 13-year-old girl meanwhile said that she was not paid by her abusive employers so she decided to run away.

The OFW repatriates were emotional as they were greeted by their relatives at the airport.

Senate President Manuel "Manny" Villar financed the repatriation of the OFWs after he personally witnessed in October last year the conditions of around 200 Filipinos stuck in Jordan.

Avic Amarillo, Villar’s media officer, earlier said the senator chanced upon the distressed OFWs in Jordan while on his way to South Africa, where he attended the annual Interparliamentary Union (IPU) summit.

Villar shouldered the airplane tickets of the OFWs via Thai Airways after being stranded in the Middle East kingdom for almost a year.

The Senate president, lamented the fact that three of the OFWs were allowed to work abroad despite being minors.


With the “police’s" help

One of the young workers, whose identity was withheld, said she was able to go out of the country with the help of ‘policemen.’

“There were two ‘policemen’ who escorted me so that I can enter the airport," one of the young repatriates revealed to Alviz in the interview.

It was not clear whether the ‘policemen’ were airport police or members of the Philippine National Police

Reports also said some of the OFWs’ recruiters were able to convince them to work abroad despite the absence of some of the requirements with the assurance that immigration officers will help them.

Villar explained that although it is indicated in the passport that the holder is of age, one can easily determine that it is not true as the holder looks young.

"There seems to be racket that allows minors or undocumented OFWs to be smuggled past immigration officers at the airport. And because they're young, they were abused in the countries they went to," Villar said.

Meanwhile, the senator said the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration should explain the slow process in the repatriation of Filipinos abroad.

Villar also suggested raising more funds to repatriate other distressed and runaway OFWs especially in the Middle East.

Investigation

Airport Development and Corporate Affairs Assistant Gen Manager Tirso Serrano vowed to investigate the allegations that certain airport and immigration officials connived to facilitate the escape of the underage OFWs.

“Illegal trafficking has no place at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport," Serrano told GMANews.

“What is important is that we catch who is involved here. If a certain syndicate continues to operate, we will definitely get to the bottom of things," he added.
- Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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