Review case of OFW who was doused with boiling water, DFA urged

Department of Foreign Affairs building. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

A labor advocacy group urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to review the case of Pahima Alagasi, the domestic helper who was severely burned after her boss doused her with boiling water.

Alagasi finally arrived home in Manila on Friday, four years after her female employer in Saudi Arabia scalded her back with boiling water.

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center urged the DFA to review the case of the overseas Filipino worker, who filed a complaint against her boss in May 2014.

“We urge the DFA to review the case and look at gaps in legal assistance and humanitarian service delivery. It is only by looking back that we can correct the flaws in the system and make sure that this kind of injustice never happens again,” said Susan Ople.

Ople, the head of the labor advocacy group, noted that Alagasi suffered multiple burns after she was scalded by her female employer with boiling water.

She noted that the government “allowed her to quietly endure the pain of being separated from her children and her family for nearly four years.”

For four years, Alagasi stayed at the Bahay Kalinga shelter of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, until the government of Saudi Arabia cleared her for repatriation.

The labor advocacy group however thanked President Duterte for helping bring up Alagasi’s case in his bilateral talks with the government of Saudi Arabia.

It took the intervention of Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif upon Mr. Duterte’s request, which eventually led to Alagasi’s homecoming.

“There are lessons to be learned here, not for nitpicking purposes, but to ensure every OFW’s right to access to justice and human rights. We hope that what happened to her would not happen to anyone else, hence our call for a thorough review of her case,” Ople said. With Yvinne Borondia, trainee