Filipina recalls ‘sexual harassment’ ordeal in Saudi Arabia

Assistant labor attache Antonio “Tony” Villafuerte shows up at the Senate investigation on Thursday into the “sex-for-flight” scheme in the Middle East.

MANILA, Philippines—An overseas Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia appeared  in a Senate  hearing Thursday  and recounted how she was  allegedly  sexually harassed by a Philippine labor official’s driver  in  the oil-rich kingdom.

Testifying at the joint hearing of the Senate blue ribbon and  labor committees, the 28-year-old Filipina accused a certain Jojo, who was employed at the Philippine Labor Overseas Office (POLO)  in Saudi Arabia as a driver of Philippine labor attaché Adam Musa.

She said  she  sought refuge  in the Philippine labor office after her employer  attempted to rape her sometime in March  2012.

The Filipina  said  she  went to POLO’s  Bahay Kalinga,  a center for  distressed  overseas Filipino workers where she was offered to work   as a janitress. There, she met Musa’s  driver.

At first, she said the driver seemed like a brother to the distressed compatriots. “I thought he was a brother to us,” she said.

But she said Jojo would later act strangely.

“Papasok siya (Jojo) sa kwarto naming mga takas, hindi man lang kumakatok. Tapos  tinataon pa niya na pag nagpapalit kami ng damit. Pumapasok po siya doon ng madaling araw at bigla kaming dinadaganan doon sa aming higaan (He would enter our room without knocking. He would always do that wherever we were changing clothes. He would even go there before dawn and would go suddenly on top of us),” she said.

“Then he would smile. It’s not a joke because it’s lustful,” she said.

But the attempted rape, she said,  happened on August 21, 2012 while  she and Jojo were left  at the office .

She said   Jojo suddenly grabbed  her  and tried to harass her for about 20 minutes even  after  she screamed for help.

Her assailant, she said, only stopped when  they heard  the nearby elevator  opened.

After the incident, she said she escaped from  their office and  got help to work as a beautician  in another area.

She said she later received a call from Musa’s employee, who conveyed the attaché’s advise  to  keep hiding  with a promise that  Jojo  would be given a disciplinary action.

She said Musa also  supposedly promised to give  her the three-month pay of  the driver    and  an authorization that would allow her to work  outside.

She said she was also told that the money amounting to 10,000 riyal or equivalent to more than P100,000 supposedly came from  Musa’s pockets.

But Musa,   who was present at the hearing, vehemently  denied  this.

Musa said he immediately conducted an internal investigation  after the incident was reported to him but  he could no longer  contact the Filipina.

As to his driver and employee, Musa  said, “He was fired already.”

He later clarified his statements  when  asked  again  by Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and said that his driver had actually resigned  after the victim  came out in the media.