Manning agency faces raps for ‘abandoning’ infected worker

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government will file charges against a manning agency for allegedly failing to help a worker infected with COVID-19 after he was kicked out from a house where he had been staying.

City legal officer Orlando Casimiro said the local government would press charges against the Staffhouse Manpower Office for violating Republic Act 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act  for alleged negligence to help its worker seek shelter.

Casimiro said the worker has been staying in the city since last month while waiting to be deployed for a job overseas.

The worker was asked to move out of the house where he was staying after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, according to city hall.

“The patient sought help from his manning agency, but he was told to go home. Nowhere to go, he rode a public transport to the Quezon City hall and sought assistance from the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office,” the city government said in a statement.

The patient, who is from Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, remains on quarantine.

“The city government will also file a complaint against the company with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, being a manpower agency sending Filipinos abroad,” Casimiro said.

Mayor Joy Belmonte said she ordered the business licensing department to cancel the permit of the agency’s company in the city.

“I have ordered the city legal department to ensure that this manning agency is punished to the full extent of the law,” Belmonte said.

Last month, the local government also sued a recruitment agency for bringing a COVID-positive patient to an apartment along Commonwealth Avenue without informing authorities.