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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more