Ople Center offers aid to domestic worker maltreated by Filipino diplomat

Published October 28, 2020 11:31am Legal and livelihood assistance have been offered to the household staff of recalled Philippine Ambassador to Brazil Marichu Mauro whom the latter allegedly maltreated. The Blas F. Ople Policy Center, a non-profit organization that assists overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are victims of exploitation and human trafficking, said the aggrieved household staff can contact mobile number 09618114288 and look for case handler Jenny Sespene or she can message Susan Ople via Facebook: www.facebook.com/susan.ople. “We just want her to know that our organization is willing to help her get through this, legally and even financially, because we know how difficult it is to be caught in a situation wherein you need to defend yourself against a person of authority, which in this case is no less than a Philippine ambassador,” Ople, president of the policy center, said. The former labor undersecretary said it would always be the personal decision of the abused worker whether to pursue a case, both criminally and administratively, against her employer. The Ople Center previously came to the aid of a domestic worker in Kuwait who suffered sexual harassment at the hands of an incumbent ambassador. “Under the previous administration, that administrative case dragged on for more than two years. We hope and pray that this does not happen under the Duterte Administration considering how vocal Foreign Affairs Secretary Locsin is when it comes to migrant workers’ rights,” said Ople. She added that it would be difficult for Ambassador Mauro to refute what was clearly featured in a news report of a Brazilian network. “The question remains: had that video not come out in the news, how much longer would the domestic worker have suffered? And in the middle of a global pandemic where the entire department has been working tirelessly and at great risk to their lives to repatriate thousands of OFWs, how could the ambassador even think of harming her own staff?” she said. Ople, recently appointed to the UN Trust Fund to Help Victims of Human Trafficking as one of the Board of Trustees member, said the ambassador should remember that she represents the Philippine flag, and that flag is well known throughout the world for being the voice of foreign domestic workers. Mauro, the country's envoy to Brazil since 2018, was recalled from her post following release of video footages showing her berating and mistreating her household staff. She was seen pulling the staff's hair and throwing objects at her. The household staff left Brasilia on October 21 and is back in the Philippines. The Department of Foreign Affairs said has formed a fact-finding team to probe Mauro.—AOL, GMA

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