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| Illegal recruitment victims with faces blurred, wait for the Php50k cash aid (DMW photo) |
Some 20 migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong who have filed complaints of illegal recruitment and fraud against former Cebu City Councillor Prisca Nina Mabatid have urged Secretary Hans Cacdac to grant them financial aid from the Department of Migrant Workers’ AKSYON Fund.
The call was made after
the DMW issued a statement on Tuesday saying that 201 victims of illegal
recruitment and human trafficking were granted a total sum of Php10,050,000 from
the Fund specifically set up for this purpose.
At least one of the Hong Kong complainants and two other alleged victims working abroad have said their applications were denied because their complaints had not been taken up by the Department of Justice.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye |
The DMW assured the Senate “of more efficient and
more responsive programs and services to OFWs and their families to help them
maximize the gains of their employment and empower them as co-architects of
national development.”
Told about the appeal, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac said he would look into why the Hong Kong complainants and others who were recruited abroad were denied the Php50,000 financial assistance extended to victims of illegal recruitment and humana trafficking.
Consul General Germinia Aguilar-Usudan also offered to forward the appeal by the HK complainants to the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs, for endorsement to the DMW.
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| PINDUTIN DITO |
Edwina Antonio, case worker at the Mission for Migrant Workers who has been helping the complainants pursue their case with the Hong Kong authorities and the DMW since June 2023, said the Php50,000 cash assistance would be a big help to them.
“Malaking tulong ito, lalo at malapit nang mag Pasko at hindi pa sila nakakabangon sa inutang nilang pera para ipambayad sa pinangako sa kanilang trabaho at student visa sa Canada,” said Antonio.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
(This would be a big help, especially since it’s almost Christmas and they have yet to recover from the loans they took out to pay for the work and student visa in Canada promised them).
"Ang tagal na nilang nagdurusa at umaasa, nawa ay pakinggan man lang ang mga hinaing nila.” (They have suffered long enough, but are still hoping for justice; hopefully the DMW would finally listen to their grievance).
Antonio added she didn’t understand why some of the complainants against Mabatid were granted the Php50,000 financial assistance, while others, including those who are in Hong Kong, weren’t.
This was after she was told by one of the Hong Kong complainants that her application for the Php50,000 cash aid was denied by DMW officials who told her she needed to have a case number issued by the Department of Justice to qualify for the grant.
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| Mabatid's accusers, along with Antonio, filed a complaint with Consulate officials |
The same reason was given to two other OFWs whose cases had been filed with the Laguna prosecutors by the DMW itself.
In contrast, about 15 people who filed nearly identical complaints against Mabatid and whose cases were taken up by the National Bureau of Investigation and referred to the DOJ for the possible filing of charges, were awarded the financial aid.
In an order published in August this year, the DMW increased the amount of its financial assistance to OFWs in distress under its Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFWs na Nangangailangan (AKSYON) Fund.
From the previous Php30,000 the financial grant was raised to Php50,000 to OFWs who suffer abuse at their workplace, or were victims of illegal recruitment or human trafficking.
The grant goes up to Php75,000 for those who suffer mental distress, and Php100,000 if the OFW dies at the worksite, or within a year of returning from an overseas job.
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| The complainants confront Mabatid in a HK street in June 2023 |
The HK OFWs named Mabatid, her partner lawyer Russ Mark Gamallo and Hong Kong-based OFW blogger Bryan A. Calagui in complaints they filed with the HK Police and the DMW.
They backed up their complaints with receipts showing they paid no less than $18,700 to Mabatid and her company, PCVC-Opportunities Abroad in February 2023, after the Cebu politician promised to help secure visas for them in Canada, which she said would allow them to work and study at the same time.
The promised visas did not materialize, and Mabatid has since been summoned to the Senate Commmittee on Migrant Workers headed by Senator Raffy Tulfo, to explain her alleged illegal recruitment activities.
The DMW has also looked into the complaints against Mabatid, and has endorsed a number of the cases to the National Bureau of Investigation and the DOJ for the possible filing of charges.
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