OFW victim of laglag-bala scheme re-hired by HK employer

Gloria Ortinez, the OFW victim of the "laglag-bala" extortion scheme, was re-hired by her employer of 13 years in Hong Kong after initially canceling her contract for her failure to return in October, Balitanghali reported Tuesday.

 

Lawyer Spocky Farolan, Ortinez's legal counsel, told GMA News reporter Isay Reyes that the employer, a single mother of a 13-year-old girl, almost did not accept Ortinez and even scolded her.

 

"Nagkaroon ng mga maiinit at maaanghang na palitan ng salita, nagkataasan ng boses. Umabot pa sa punto na ang kanyang gamit... hindi na siya pina-akyat, pinababa na lamang, nandun siya sa bangketa," said Farolan, who accompanied Ortinez to Hong Kong over the weekend.

 

It was only when Ortinez's 13-year-old charge, whom she helped raise from infancy, went to see her that she was able to regain her job.

 

"This is more about 'yung love story ng yaya at 'yung kanyang alaga of 13 years na nakita nung nanay siguro at ni-respeto niya 'yun," said Susan Ople, head of the Blas Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a group that assists OFWs, in the report.

 

Ortinez returned to the Philippines on Monday to prepare the necessary documents for her new contract, the report said.

 

"Back to square one siya. It's a new contract. May mga permanenteng epekto yung nangyari dito na katiwalian. Lumalabas na kahit re-hire siya, parehong employer, kailangan pa rin niyang dumaan sa isang agency," Farolan said.

 

Ortinez's case has already been dismissed by the Pasay City Prosecutor's Office due to lack of evidence. She was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last October for allegedly carrying a bullet.

 

Ortinez, 56, who has been working overseas for 26 years, denied that the bullet was hers. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News