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| Betty's persistence paid off |
That Sunday evening of Sept. 6, 2015 would have been an
ordinary dog-walking day for Betty, a domestic helper in Discovery Bay
That experience and the ensuing protracted fight for compensation
from the dog-owner opened her eyes to the reality that, in her words, “people
here look too low on us domestic workers.”
The 59-year-old Filipina was not actually the target of the
unleashed Bernese Mountain dog’s rage, but her employer’s Golden Retriever that
she was walking at around 6pm.
When the aggressor jumped on the other dog, the force threw
her to the pavement that she injured her right arm. Her daughter, also a
domestic helper in the neighborhood, called an ambulance and she was taken to
the hospital.
Doctors who attended to Betty said the fall broke her arm bones
and damaged her wrist bone. She stayed in hospital overnight and her arm was
put in a plaster cast so the fractured bones could bond naturally.
But only the ulna – the secondary arm bone – bonded while
the main bone, called the radius, remained fractured to this day. That left
Betty unable to use her right arm again to do her daily chores, a reality that
led her to decide she had to fight for compensation from the dog’s owner,
well-known lawyer.
In retrospect, Betty told The SUN that the lawyer would walk
his dog at about the same time that she walked her master’s pet. The only
difference was that the lawyer would not leash his dog, which she said had a
history of aggressiveness. At one time it bit the hand of another helper, Betty
said.
The lawyer paid for Betty’s medical expenses, as the woman
had to go back to the hospital for treatment every two weeks.
One month after the attack on her, the lawyer still kept his
dog on the loose. When she asked him why, he supposedly said the dog didn’t
want to be leashed.
Betty said she went to seek assistance from the Consulate on
Oct 12 last year and officers of the assistance to nationals section told her they
had a lawyer who could help her apply for legal aid. She also approached the Mission for Migrant
Workers, which helped her process her documents.
She gave the documents to the Consulate’s lawyer who told
her to take the papers to the Legal Aid Department.
Betty said at first people at the Legal Aid Department were
cranky and indifferent to her.
“Sinigaw-sigawan pa ako ng Legal Aid. Nagalit pa sila. Bakit
daw ako nag-Legal Aid? Hindi ko daw ba alam na may bayad ito?”, Betty said.
But she persisted and after two months they eventually asked
her to see them.
They let her sign a heap of documents, which her escort, ATN
officer Danny Baldon, signed for her because she could not move her fingers and
her arm was still in a sling.
Even after a lawyer had been assigned to her, gathering
evidence was difficult because neighbors who witnessed the dog attack refused to
testify. They even reportedly tried to dissuade her. Only one, a Caucasian,
agreed to give evidence.
At first, Betty said that even her Australian boss tried to
discourage her when he found out she was pressing charges. He scolded her and
even called the lawyer to settle the dispute with her.
“You drop the case. You won’t win against him,” Betty quoted
her boss as saying. “If you win, he
won’t pay you, not even $80,000, or $50,000,” he allegedly said. But Betty
replied she was pressing with the case.
“Nakita ko sa amo ko na ang mga employer maliit lang ang
tingin sa mga katulong,” said Betty, a Born Again Christian.
Her strong faith made her determined to fight, so one day
she prayed to God to give her strength and she reportedly heard Him whisper: “I
won’t abandon you, my child.”
Later her boss found out he had insured Betty for
work-related injuries or death. He reversed and backed her fight, paid her
expenses, salaries and allowances. Betty later learned that all his opposition
stemmed from his losing $3 million in a past litigation.
Meanwhile, the Legal Aid lawyer wrote the dog owner asking
him to settle or he would file the case in court.
On May 3 this year, the lawyer and Betty signed the settlement
deal. In all, Betty said, the lawyer paid her about $510,000 and paid for all
her hospital bills and medical treatments.
The lawyer also paid her $31,000 in gratuity. Betty said she gave
$100,000 to Legal Aid lawyer and $58,000 to her boss for his expenses.
Betty is going home for good in September after working for 23
years in Hong Kong . Despite injuring her arm,
which is her work instrument, she is glad enough that she is going home with
money to cover for her loss.
She said she would put up a boarding house so she would have
steady income back home now that she’s incapable of working.
Her advice to fellow domestic workers: “Don’t be afraid to
fight for your injuries. Be bold, be daring in fighting for your rights.” - Vir B. Lumicao
