Five female overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are now appealing for justice as they revealed that they have been repeatedly maltreated by their employer who is a retired general in Saudi Arabia.
But the physical and verbal abuses, they said, were not only perpetrated by retired general Ayed Al Jeaid and his wife Fetnah Metrek Al Qahtani but also the head butler of the family who is a Filipina. They identified her as Anita Cielo.
The five OFWs arrived in the country last Thursday, Sept. 2. They are currently in isolation in a quarantine hotel in Metro Manila.
In proving their claims, the five OFWs shared their stories and even photos of their body injuries they suffered.
Mary Grace, one of the OFWs, narrated how the employers threatened and physically abused them while staying in their employer’s house in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“Pinaghahampas po ako pababa ng hagdan tapos pinagsisipa na lang po ako sa ari ng ilang beses hindi ko po alam kung anong dahilan. Yung pananakit po araw-araw po eh lalo na po paghindi po maganda yung trabaho ko (They slapped and dragged me down the stairs and then kicked me in the private parts a few times, I don't know why they are doing that. The abuse us every day, especially when I did not perform well during work),” she shared in a press conference on Thursday.
According to Mary Grace, the retired general’s wife has also ordered Cielo to slap and pull her hair while she was asleep.
Ely Mae, another victim, said Al Jeaid also slapped and threatened the five of them after they attempted to leave and return to the Philippines.
“Lahat po kami nakadanas po ng pananampal sa kanya noong nahuli po kaming nagtry po tumakas at pagmay dumating pong complaint ng pamilya po namin sa amin po ipag-iinit (We were all slapped by Al Jeaid after we were caught trying to run away and when a complaint from our family arrived, they were angry because of it),” she narrated.
Analyn, one of the helpers, shared that the 25-year-old daughter of the retired general has ordered her to wrap illegal drugs.
When she refused, the 25-year old daughter of the retired general threatened to burn her face with a cigarette.
“Hindi ko po akalain na yung magiging trabaho ko po roon ay isa pa lang magbabalot ng droga niya at paghindi po ako sumunod sinasabunutan niya po ako at susunugin ng sigarilyo (I didn't expect that my job there will be wrapping illegal drugs and if I didn't obey, she will pull my hair and burn my face with a cigarette),” she recounted.
The five OFWs bared that the retired general has used different names to recruit Filipina domestic helpers since 2019.
The victims said they had a settlement with the employers and each of them received 12,000 Saudi Riyals as part of the damages and their back pay.
They, however, said that the payment for their tickets to return home was from their own money instead of using the government’s repatriation flights.
They appealed to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to assist them to return the money they used in order to help them to compensate the damages and maltreatment they received.
“Priority kami for repatriation at pumirma na po kami for repatriation paano po nangyari yun binawasan kami para sa ticket namin. Kung tutuusin sagot ng gobyerno yun kasi nga kagaya namin na na-abused po kami (We are a priority for repatriation and we have already signed for it. How did that happen that we paid our own ticket? The government should pay for it because were abused),” Analyn shared.
“Yun lang po sana ang hinihiling namin yung pera na yan malaking halaga na sa amin yan panghanap buhay na namin sa Pilipinas sana lang maibalik lang din po sa amin (That is all we were asking for, that money is a big amount for us. It can be used to start our own livelihood or business in the Philippines, I just hope it can be returned to us),” she added.