Binay vows help for OFW doused with boiling water

ABS-CBNnews.com

Posted at 05/20/2014 6:40 PM | Updated as of 05/20/2014 6:40 PM

MANILA -- Vice President Jejomar Binay on Tuesday said the Philippine government will pursue the filing of charges against an Arab employer who poured boiling water on a Filipina household helper working in Saudi Arabia.
Binay, who serves as Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers' (OFW) Concerns, said in a statement that he has ordered the Special Concerns Unit of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to coordinate with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh to get updates on the case and pursue the necessary legal actions.
"Kalunos-lunos po ang dinanas ng ating kababayan. No person deserves to be treated that way. Kung mapapatunayan natin na minaltrato siya, magsasampa tayo ng kaso at sisiguraduhin natin na mabibigyan siya ng hustisya," he added.
Binay said he has also instructed the OVP Special Concerns Unit to coordinate with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to verify if the OFW was legally employed, and check other forms of assistance that can be given to the OFW.
News of the the incident spread when photos of Fatma (not her real name), showing burns on her back and legs, were posted by her cousin on Facebook last Saturday (May 17).

These photos went viral, with many netizens expressing support and prayers for Fatma.

Fatma, who is from Pikit, North Cotabato, said she had been working for the Arab family for only two months before the incident. She was not given her salary or provided with proper meals.

Last May 4, her employer's mother got angry after Fatma did not immediately bring her coffee.
The old woman grabbed the thermos and poured boiling water on Fatma.

It took a few hours before she was even brought to the hospital to be treated for her burns.
Fatma, who has children ages 11 months and 4 years old back in the Philippines, appealed for help in filing a case against her abusive employer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vietnam condemns China's 'brutal behavior' in fisher attack ---- Agence France-Presse

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's foreign ministry condemned on Wednesday China's "brutal behavior" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea. The 10 fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam "resolutely protests the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam", foreign ministry spokesperson Vietnam Pham Thu Hang said in a statement, using the Vietnamese term for the Paracel Islands. "The above actions of Chinese law enforcement forces seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty" over the archipelago, the statement said. Four of the Vietnamese crew were taken to hospital on Monday
Read more

Russia captures town after 2 years of Ukrainian resistance --- Reuters

Russian forces now control 98.5% of Luhansk, 60% of Donetsk MOSCOW: Russian troops on Wednesday took charge of the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a bastion that had resisted intense attacks since Russia launched its full-scale assault in 2022. The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from the Western allies that have been supporting it. Ukraine's eastern military command said it had ordered a pullback from the hilltop coal mining town to avoid encirclement by Russian troops and "preserve personnel and military equipment". The Russian defense ministry did not mention Vuhledar in its daily battlefield report. Russian Telegram channels, however, published video of troops waving the Russian tricolor flag over shattered buildings. The town, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, has been devastated, with Soviet-era
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more