Abused, starved and locked out of the house
Despite the difficult situation of Anna Liza in Saudi Arabia, she still managed to post a message on the Bantay OCW Facebook page. An avid listener and televiewer of the Bantay OCW program, Anna Liza knew this was one site she could go to for help.
Her Madame (female employer), she wrote, was abusing her. She had only four months to go on her contract. She hoped she could hold on until the contract ended. But last July 6, after a fight with her Madame, she said she was locked outside the house and told to stay in the garage. She was not given work. Neither has she been given food to eat.
She gets some food only when the housekeeper of her Madame’s sister goes there.
She begged the husband of her Madame to send her to the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh. But he reportedly refused.
Anna Liza’s husband and children also went to the Radyo Inquirer studio to file this complaint.
We immediately sent this case to the office of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz through Labor Attaché David Des Dicang and he coordinated with our Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Imprisoned in Saudi
Another caller, Caroline, is asking for help regarding her father, an overseas worker who was jailed in Riyadh last June 8.
Her father was able to call the family while in prison but when they tried to call him again the next day, they could no longer contact him. His phone was “out of coverage area.” They were told by some of their father’s colleagues at work that their employer had sent some representatives to see him—but not to help him.
The claimed staffers took their father’s important documents and mobile phone away and that was why they could no longer contact him.
Family members do not know the reason for their father’s imprisonment. They only wish their father would be repatriated and that he would stay for good in the Philippines.
Dicang took note of this matter.
Susan Andes, also known as Susan K., can be heard over Radyo Inquirer DzIQ 990 AM, Monday to Friday, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon. Audio/video live streaming is at www.ustream.tv/channel/dziq. Helpline: 0927-6499870. E-mail: [email protected]/ [email protected]
