Forget St Ballsy of the Filipinas!!!
There is a lady who is more than deserving of gratitude and homage from Oveseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and their families and ultimately the whole Filipino nation.
This lady is Maria Elizabeth Embry. She has on numerous ocassions highlighted the sad flights of Filipinos abroad.
Everytime I hear from her, she writes about someone who was abused sexually, someone who was slained, someone who was tortured, someone who was left stranded and penniless and can’t go home, someone’s body that needed repatriation!
I have to turn into a human octopus to be able to count in my octopussy arms with fingers 😉 (perish the thought!!!I am trying to give you a picture of the many advocacies Maria does) all the times Maria Embry had tried to help our compatriots. To these days Maria continues to do so.
In fact, today as I opened my emails, the first thing I saw was an email from a Waldon Bello assuring St Maria Embry of OFWs his full attention and action.
Well Mr Bello, we are going to hold you to your assurance and promise of help wiith utmost urgency.
PS: Maria is often helped by Eddie Calderon, reminding us of Maria’s advocacies. There are times when her emails are swamped by the deluge of overly-active and enthusiastic Filipino posters in forums!
…………………………………………………………..
From Cong. Walden Bello:
Hi Maria:
Rest assured we will act on this.
Best,
Walden
……………………………………………………………..
Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2013 7:55 AM
Subject: S.O.S. Cong Bello, kindly endorse to the DFA, DOJ, DOLE the case of 5 distressed Pinay maids who were sold by the syndicated group working the Zamboanga, Tawi-Tawi, Malaysia, Jordan route… they are TRAPPED & DESPERATE!!… their options are running away & if caught: arrest, jail, false accusation by employer of theft…going to labor agency where they were sold: physical abuse or being sent back to employer who are holding their I.D. passports & other legal docu
S.O.S. Cong Bello, kindly endorse to the DFA, DOJ, DOLE the case of 5 distressed Pinay maids who were sold by the syndicated group working the Zamboanga, Tawi-Tawi, Malaysia, Jordan route… they are TRAPPED & DESPERATE!!… their options are running away & if caught: arrest, jail, false accusation by employer of theft…going to labor agency where they were sold: physical abuse or being sent back to employer who are holding their I.D. passports & other legal docu
—– Forwarded Message —–
From: maria embry <maria.embry@att.net>
To: “”Hon Joy Ngozi Ezeilo UN Special Rapporteur”” <infodesk@ohchr.org>; “”U.S. Department of State 2014 Trafficking in Person Report”” <tipreport@state.gov>
Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 1:40 AM
Subject: Open Letter to the Hon Sect John Kerry Re: Filipina housemaids who are complaining that they are victims of contract substitution (receiving $200 instead of $400 monthly salary) unlawful witholding of passports, etc and that Philippine Embassy in Jordan, not only denied to assist them, but instead responded that they just suffer their fate (“magtiis”)
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Open Letter to the Hon Sect John Kerry Re: Filipina housemaids who are complaining that they are victims of contract substitution (receiving $200 instead of $400 monthly salary) unlawful witholding of passports, etc and that Philippine Embassy in Jordan, not only denied to assist them, but instead responded that they just suffer their fate (“magtiis”)
Dear Hon John Kerry:
Sir, as your honorable office gather the data for the 2014 Trafficking in Person Report, allow me to call your attention Re: Filipina housemaids who are complaining that they are victims of contract substitution (receiving $200 instead of $400 monthly salary) unlawful witholding of passports, etc and that Philippine Embassy in Jordan, not only denied to assist them, but instead responded that they just suffer their fate (“magtiis”).
Sir, the U.S. State Department 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report focuses on victim identification as the top priority and further states that protection is one of the “three P paradigm” established in the 2000 UN Palermo Protocol to guide government action in combating trafficking in persons, however only a mere fraction of trafficking victims have been recognized by governments and the consequence of inadequate victim identification is that the traffickers are operating with impunity, beyond the reach of the law. Traffickers around the world commonly threaten their victims: law enforcement will incarcerate or deport victims if they seek help. The success of victim identification will often depend on who that trafficking victim first encounters―whether a police officer, immigration agent, or labor inspector (Source: http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2013/210542.htm).
Sir, I would like to inform you that in this particular incident the staff at the Philippine Embassy in Jordan are the first responders and although the Filipina housemaids already volunteered to positively identified themselves as trafficking victims, however they were not only denied assistance, but were inappropriately advised to just “magtiis” meaning just suffer because if they provoke their employers to anger, they may end up in jail falsely accused of theft.
The Filipina housemaids are complaining of contract substitution when their wages were reduced upon arrival in Jordan to $200 instead of the agreed upon $400.00 per month. Additionally, they are complaining that their employers are unlawfully witholding their passports. Other complaints from some of them are inadequate food; feeling weakened by unbearable long working hours caused by working not only in the household of the employer, but also in the households of the employer’s parents and in-laws; inadequate sleeping hours, confinement and restriction of movement resulting from padlocked exit doors.
As I communicated with some of them thru facebook, they expressed strong feelings about not wanting to run away, fearful of what the Philippine Embassy said that they may end up in jail. They are also fearful of their local manpower agency in Jordan because stories about agencies that physically abuse Filipinas who signify their intention of leaving their employers.
I am very worried exactly for the same reasons because one of them told me about accusations of theft by her employer when she signified her intention of leaving her employment because of being called stupid so many times by her male employer.
Some of the Filipina housemaids are more isolated than the others because they do not have cellphones and facebook accounts, so they rely on those who possess them. The ones who have cellphones and facebook accounts are also fearful because upon discovery by employers their means of communication will be cut off.
I forwarded to the Philippine government agencies and officials an e-mail describing the situation of the seven Filipina housemaids with information about their locations. I have not receive any response to that e-mail.
Sir, it is common knowledge that the Philippine government is one of the largest labor sending countries in the world. It is also common knowledge that it keeps on sending household workers to countries with the most oppressive human trafficking practices. This is akin to throwing its own citizens to the wolves.
Sir, it is also an outrage that the United States is able to close her eyes to these realities and keeps on giving the Philippines a passing grade in the annual Human Trafficking Report.
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) defines SEVERE FORMS OF TRAFFICKING as the recruitment….for labor through the use of fraud for the purpose of subjection to INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE, peonage, DEBT BONDAGE or slavery (emphasis supplied)
Sir, thank you for your attention regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
Maria Elizabeth Embry
Antioch, California
~~~~~~~~
sent to Philippine government Jul 15 2013 @11:32 PM
S.O.S. DFA OUMWA, kindly verify & rescue 7 distressed Pinays, victims of illegal recruitment, involuntary servitude & contract substitution…lumapit na daw sa embassy, walang aksyon, ang response: magtiis lang sila (magtiis is not the proper response to victims of severe forms of trafficking…contract substitution is an outright fraud that leads to involuntary servitude…no ifs, no buts abt it…instead of $400/month, they are receiving only $200/month)
Dear Sir/ Madam:
with due respect, allow me to remind you that Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) defines SEVERE FORMS OF TRAFFICKING as the recruitment….for labor through the use of fraud for the purpose of subjection to INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE, peonage, DEBT BONDAGE or slavery (emphasis supplied).
Undeniably, CONTRACT SUBSTITUTION is an OUTRIGHT FRAUD that leads to INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE.
The United Nations, similarly define human trafficking along this term.
The Philippines as signatory to international agreements and more importants as recipient of financial funds and grants from various donors made a commitment to reduce the number of human trafficking victims.
Allow me to forward to you in a separate e-mail the names, contact information of the 7 Filipina workers.
Caution: for their safety do not contact them thru their local agency because they are fearful of physical harm (pinay worker: ” nakakatakot ang agency dito kahit babae sinasaktan kapag nalaman gusto nang umuwi sa pinas”) two of the employers are siblingsThank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Maria Elizabeth Embry
Antioch, California
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