By Daisy CL Mandap
 |
| The Small Claims Tribunal is now at West Kowloon Courts |
A record
number of Filipino domestic workers showed up at the Small Claims Tribunal on
Monday, Sept. 19, for the hearing of their claims for refund against recruiter
Ester P. Ylagan, who allegedly promised them non-existent jobs in Britain and
Canada.
However,
Ylagan was not around to defend herself and her solely-owned company, Mike’s
Secretarial Services, against claims totaling no less than $300,000. Even a
former staff member who appeared for earlier court hearings was nowhere in
sight.
However,
in a defence statement she sent to court on Sept. 11 in reply to the case
lodged against her by the first claimant Maritess R. Moreno, Ylagan said she
would “vigorously defend” all claims arising from her recruitment for the
overseas jobs.
A total
of 33 claimants were told to show up for the hearings, which were held for the
first time at the West Kowloon Law Courts in Shamshuipo. The workers were
claiming between $10,000 and $15,000 each from Ylagan, who collected the money
for a document they supposedly needed to secure the jobs.
The workers, believed to number around 500, said they were promised a deployment by June this year, but Ylagan later moved
this to October. When the applicants resisted and demanded a refund, Ylagan
closed down her shops in Worldwide Plaza in Central and stopped replying to
them via chat or email.
Most of
the claimants showed up in person, while a few were allowed to be represented
by volunteers of the Mission for Migrant Workers. Officers and staff at the
Philippine Consulate led by Vice Consul Alex Vallespin also came by to show
support for the workers.
But to
everyone’s disappointment, especially the helpers who had to beg their
employers to be allowed the morning off to attend court, no hearing took place.
Instead, they were told to amend their claim forms to include a new address for
Ylagan, as the court notices they reportedly sent to her registered address in
Aberdeen were all returned.
The news
came as a surprise to the workers, as the Aberdeen address was the same one
used by previous claimants in pursuing a claim against Ylagan. The notices sent
out to inform her about the default judgments made in favor of least 15 workers
were also sent to the same residential flat registered jointly in the names of the
defendant and her husband, Ricardo Ylagan.
Luckily
for them, Ylagan furnished a new address in Kwun Tong in her defence against
Moreno’s claim, so the claimants used this as a second address to ensure that
the defendant receives the notices for their next hearing dates.
The
claimants were told that if Ylagan again fails to show up for the next hearings
scheduled early next month, a default judgment could be entered in their favor.
In her
defence statement, Ylagan said Moreno failed to provide “sufficient evidence of
her attending briefings, applications, and payments”. The statement added, “There
is not a single document to prove her claim”.
Ylagan
also claimed that the “services provided by MMS (Mike’s) in applying for
documents in behalf of the applicants are not refundable” and that the company
allegedly did not guarantee that the applicants would be hired, or that visas
would be granted them by either the British or Canadian immigration.
This was
contrary to what all the claimants say, that Ylagan had guaranteed their
deployment to the two countries by June, and later, October this year. A number
of those who managed to win their claims showed the court text messages where
defendant repeatedly told them to be positive and wait for their delayed
deployment.
Ylagan
also said that at the Oct 14 hearing, she would apply for a consolidation of
all similar claims, so that they could all be heard at the District Court.
