Repatriation of abused Pinay from Saudi sought

MANILA, Philippines -  The Blas Ople Policy Center yesterday pressed for the immediate repatriation of a Filipina worker who suffered serious burns after her employer in Sauri Arabia poured boiling water on her.

Susan Ople, center head, also called on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to look into the reason why the Saudi court junked the public rights complaint filed by the worker identified only as “Candice.”

Ople said the Philippine government should heed the OFW’s appeal for immediate repatriation so she could lead a new life with her family.

“If justice remains elusive in Saudi Arabia, then let’s bring her home so she can start anew and embark on a healing process in the company of  her family, especially her children,” she said.

She said they received information from the embassy that the prosecutor in the maltreatment case ordered the dismissal of charges against Candice’s  employers, including the mother of her male employer who allegedly poured boiling water on her.

“While we respect the Saudi legal system, we lament this decision and view it as a travesty of justice given the life-threatening ordeal that she went through,” Ople said in a statement.

She added the DFA should check why the Saudi lawyer hired by the Philippine embassy failed to defend an “obvious” case of maltreatment.

“From the very start, the aggrieved OFW fully cooperated with the police investigation.”

Ople said she sent an e-mail last week to Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin Tago to follow up on Candice’s case, since little was heard about her case after her rescue from a clinic while being treated for burns last May. 

Tago reported that he had asked the lawyer to provide a full report and assessment of the case to the Philippine embassy.

The ambassador assured Ople that the Filipina worker is physically well and have received compensation from local and Saudi-based recruitment agencies.

But Ople said she learned that instead of getting justice for her ordeal, the victim is now facing slander charges in Saudi filed against her by her employer’s mother.