'Sentosa verdict places RP probes in question'
Philippines - A Filipino-American lawyer on Saturday urged the Philippine bodies that ruled against the so-called Sentosa nurses to review their respective processes in view of a US court ruling on a related case.
Lawyer Salvador Tuy, one of the counsels who successfully defended the Filipino nurses in the case filed by American firm Sentosa Recruitment Agency in New York, said it was unbelievable that the very agencies that were supposed to protect the welfare of Filipino workers were unable to see the merits of the case.
Tuy said he was referring to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) as well as the Philippine Department of Justice and the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), which all ruled against the nurses in their complaints against Sentosa in 2006.
During that year, the nurses complained to the POEA that Sentosa failed to fulfill its commitment to let them work in specific nursing homes in the US. They said that upon their arrival in New York, they found out that they were made to work for an employment agency and received less than what was stipulated in their contracts.
When their complaints were ignored, 55 nurses resigned from the Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in April 2006, after which many of them returned to work in the fear of paying a $25,000-fine to SRA.
Ten of the nurses, however, fought on and ended up being charged in court for endangering their patients by quitting their jobs.
Last January 13, a New York court deemed the 10 nurses not guilty as charged, saying they were “threatened with prosecution for crimes for which they cannot constitutionally be tried."
The nurses involved in the case were Elmer Jacinto, Juliet Anilao, Harriet Avila, Mark de la Cruz, Claudine Gamiao, Jennifer Lampa, Rizza Maulion, James Millena, Ma. Theresa Ramos, and Ranier Sichon, and their lawyer, Felix Vinluan. -
Blind or pressured?
Lawyer Tuy said the New York court ruling seemed to show that there was something wrong with the way Philippine agencies were handling cases involving powerful groups.
He said what the US court’s decision was saying is that “the act of resignation is not punishable because they cannot compel you to work for the employer under the voluntary servitude law."
"Why is it that the US court saw this pero hindi ito nakita ng POEA? Bakit hindi nila makita na dito violation yan, violation ng Philippine law and yet the conclusion is not the same?" he asked, noting that the ruling was not from an ordinary US court but from an appellate court.
"[Y]ou know, the decision of the POEA on the same facts, then the decision of the Secretary of Labor basically based on the same facts, I just cannot see how they cannot see what is plain," said Tuy.
"Under POEA law, hindi kayo pwedeng magpalit ng employer without the consent of the nurses, ‘yun ang namiss ng POEA (Under POEA law, you cannot change employers without the consent of the nurses, that's what the POEA missed)," he added.
When De Castro asked whether Philippine probers were pressured, Tuy said it was no secret that a powerful US senator intervened on behalf of Sentosa.
He added that although the nurses have been acquitted of the criminal charges, they still have a pending civil case against SRA for bridge of contract, for which Tuy said they will have a trial conference on January 22.
Meanwhile, Tuy warned aspiring overseas Filipino workers not to trust manpower agencies like Sentosa.
"What I want to point out to those applying to Sentosa, open your eyes," he said. - GMANews.TV
Lawyer Salvador Tuy, one of the counsels who successfully defended the Filipino nurses in the case filed by American firm Sentosa Recruitment Agency in New York, said it was unbelievable that the very agencies that were supposed to protect the welfare of Filipino workers were unable to see the merits of the case.
Tuy said he was referring to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) as well as the Philippine Department of Justice and the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), which all ruled against the nurses in their complaints against Sentosa in 2006.
During that year, the nurses complained to the POEA that Sentosa failed to fulfill its commitment to let them work in specific nursing homes in the US. They said that upon their arrival in New York, they found out that they were made to work for an employment agency and received less than what was stipulated in their contracts.
When their complaints were ignored, 55 nurses resigned from the Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in April 2006, after which many of them returned to work in the fear of paying a $25,000-fine to SRA.
Ten of the nurses, however, fought on and ended up being charged in court for endangering their patients by quitting their jobs.
Last January 13, a New York court deemed the 10 nurses not guilty as charged, saying they were “threatened with prosecution for crimes for which they cannot constitutionally be tried."
The nurses involved in the case were Elmer Jacinto, Juliet Anilao, Harriet Avila, Mark de la Cruz, Claudine Gamiao, Jennifer Lampa, Rizza Maulion, James Millena, Ma. Theresa Ramos, and Ranier Sichon, and their lawyer, Felix Vinluan. -
Blind or pressured?
Lawyer Tuy said the New York court ruling seemed to show that there was something wrong with the way Philippine agencies were handling cases involving powerful groups.
He said what the US court’s decision was saying is that “the act of resignation is not punishable because they cannot compel you to work for the employer under the voluntary servitude law."
"Why is it that the US court saw this pero hindi ito nakita ng POEA? Bakit hindi nila makita na dito violation yan, violation ng Philippine law and yet the conclusion is not the same?" he asked, noting that the ruling was not from an ordinary US court but from an appellate court.
"[Y]ou know, the decision of the POEA on the same facts, then the decision of the Secretary of Labor basically based on the same facts, I just cannot see how they cannot see what is plain," said Tuy.
"Under POEA law, hindi kayo pwedeng magpalit ng employer without the consent of the nurses, ‘yun ang namiss ng POEA (Under POEA law, you cannot change employers without the consent of the nurses, that's what the POEA missed)," he added.
When De Castro asked whether Philippine probers were pressured, Tuy said it was no secret that a powerful US senator intervened on behalf of Sentosa.
He added that although the nurses have been acquitted of the criminal charges, they still have a pending civil case against SRA for bridge of contract, for which Tuy said they will have a trial conference on January 22.
Meanwhile, Tuy warned aspiring overseas Filipino workers not to trust manpower agencies like Sentosa.
"What I want to point out to those applying to Sentosa, open your eyes," he said. - GMANews.TV
Comments