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| Sarah Bagasino (third from left) poses with fellow residents of Bethune House in front of the Kwun Tong court |
A Filipina domestic helper was acquitted today at Kwun Tong court of stealing from her employer the clothes and various other things she was seen wearing on her posts on Facebook, and later found in a search of her belongings.
In her testimony during the trial, Sarah Bagasino, 35, maintained that the items were given to her by her employer, Nicole Chan, over several months until the latter complained to police last Feb. 22.
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The items, as detailed by the charge sheet, consisted of “six tops, one pants, one trousers, one hat, one sunglasses, one bra and three dresses.”
They were alleged to have been stolen “on diverse dates between an unknown day in December 2022 and 22nd day of February 2023” in the employer’s house in Lohas Park, Tseung Kwan O.
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Magistrate Lau Suk-han said that she had questions about Bagasino’s testimony, such as the absence of proof that Chan had indeed given her the clothes found in her possession. She could have taken pictures of herself wearing the clothes in the presence of her employer, she added.
But Magistrate Lau concluded that the accusation against Bagasino was not proven “to the standard required”.
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“I did not consider (Chan) to be telling the whole truth,” she added.
Lau cited the employer's two versions on when she complained to the police about the theft -- on the day that she saw Bagasino on Facebook wearing her clothes and three days before.
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She acknowledged that the defense lawyer also raised the possibility that Chan complained to police about the theft to get back at Bagasino whom she accused of passing on the foot and mouth disease virus to her two-year-old son, and over which they had a heated argument.
Lau wondered why Chan did not suspect Bagasino of stealing her things until her son got sick, when she claimed to have noticed some items missing.
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After Lau read her verdict, a tearful Bagasino walked to her fellow residents of Bethune House, who hugged her as they came down from the gallery.
She later collected the $500 that she paid to the court as bail. “I need to return it to Mama Edwina,” she said, referring to Bethune House manager Edwina Antonio.
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With her name finally cleared after 10 months, Bagasino’s next step is to pursue her claim at the Labour Tribunal for the last item that her employer has not yet paid – her one-month salary in lieu of notice.
She said she was terminated on the spot on Feb. 22, when Chan called police after she arrived from her day off, and was therefore entitled to such payment.
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She also plans to look a new employer; that is, if she gets the permission of her husband, two sons and one daughter, who have been waiting for the case to end so she can go home to Biliran, Leyte.
Bagasino’s advice to OFWs who happen to receive clothes and other gifts from their employers: “Don’t keep them among your things.”
She said she had kept the clothes given by Chan, which date back to when her ex-employer was still a teenager, because she was intending to send these to her daughter and she was still saving up for the door-to-door box.
She has since left these clothes in her ex-employer’s house.
Or, she added, OFWs can follow the magistrate’s suggestion in her verdict: have a picture taken showing your employers approving of you wearing their clothes.
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