A Filipina who sought the High Court’s help in collecting
the $36,000 claim awarded her by the Small Claims Tribunal was told she had
gone to the wrong place.
Deputy Judge Kent Yee rejected the appeal filed by Eugenia
V. Managan when she could not explain why she sought the court’s help to go
after Genny Bell Panes who failed to pay her back.
“You got it all
wrong, Madam,” Judge Yee told Managan, adding that the High Court is not a
claims court.
The perplexed judge noted that the adjudicator, Brian Mak,
had in fact entered judgment in favor of Managan when Panes failed to show up to
counter the claim at the Tribunal.
Managan, who is in her 40s, told The SUN it was the staff at
the Tribunal who told her to appeal the case to the High Court.
The La Union native, who said she had been a domestic helper
in Hong Kong for 20 years, filed the claim on May 2, alleging that Panes
reneged on her written promise to repay her debt in January last year.
The case was first heard by Mak on June 7 but Panes was
absent. She also did not appear at the trial on Aug 1, so Managan was awarded
the claim.
Managan said she learned that Panes had gone home to Iloilo
two months ago but was already back in Hong Kong.
But a quick check with the Consulate’s assistance to
nationals section showed Panes was issued a one-way travel document because she
was terminated by her employer and had no passport. -VBL
