Guevarra: Slain OFW sexually abused, beaten

MANILA, Philippines — Slain domestic worker Jeanelyn Villavende was sexually abused and physically beaten by her Kuwaiti employers, the autopsy of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) showed.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra reported yesterday that the NBI completed its autopsy on Villavende’s body, which was brought back to the country last week.

“The body of OFW Villavende was autopsied by the chief of the NBI Medico-Legal Division, Dr. Ricardo Rodaje on Jan. 10, 2020 in Cotabato, near the deceased’s residence,” Guevarra said.

Guevarra said the report showed clear indications of sexual abuse and healed wounds that indicate how Villavende was battered weeks prior to her death.

The NBI is scheduled to submit to the justice secretary a formal report tomorrow. 

Villavende was allegedly killed by her employer’s wife last Dec. 28 in Kuwait. The victim’s employer and his wife are already detained.  

An embalming certificate released by the Kuwait’s Ministry of Health confirmed that Villavende was killed on Dec. 28, 2019. She died of “acute failure of heart and respiration” as a result of shock and multiple injuries in the vascular nervous system. 

 According to a preliminary report submitted by Labor Attaché Nasser Mustafa, the victim was allegedly beaten to death and was already dead when she was brought to hospital. The nurses in the hospital also reportedly described her to be “black and blue.”

 The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) yesterday said the Kuwaiti government submitted a fake autopsy report to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

“We strongly condemn this so-called fake autopsy report submitted by Kuwait to the Philippine government. This is completely a willful dishonest attempt of the Kuwaiti government to cover up the heinous crime committed by the Kuwaiti nationals principal suspects and whitewash the gruesome act of inhumanity,” TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said.

Mendoza said the Philippine government should strongly respond and condemn the “unacceptable” action taken by the Kuwaiti government.

Mendoza said the House of Representatives’ committee on overseas foreign workers affairs, which he chairs, has summoned the NBI forensic experts to report on the autopsy they conducted on Villavende.

The committee is set to hold a special meeting today to look into the killing of Villavende.

“The NBI report is important in our quest for justice for Jeanelyn. We cannot rely or just depend on the findings of the Kuwaiti autopsy report. We have to have our own findings as we begin the process of giving justice for Jeanelyn,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza said he filed House Resolution 641 calling for an investigation into the death of Villavende and find ways to improve government mechanisms in providing care and assistance to OFWs.

 The congressional probe will also look into discrepancies in the alleged employment contract of Jeanelyn with her Kuwaiti employer and the memorandum of agreement on the employment of domestic workers between Kuwait and Manila, Mendoza said.

He said he also filed another House resolution to assess the Philippine government’s plan for possible evacuation of Filipino workers in the Middle East amid tension caused by the US-Iran faceoff.

Repatriation

Sen. Imee Marcos, meanwhile, cautioned the government on involving Philippine military personnel and transport in repatriating Filipinos from the Middle East amid hostilities between the US and Iran.

Marcos said diplomatic hitches, logistical delays, or something “worse may arise if host governments at transit and exit points see overseas Filipino worker (OFW) rescue operations as military in nature, while the country has the Mutual Defense Treaty with US.

“I understand the trust of the President with our soldiers that they would do their duty but diplomacy must take the lead in this kind of situation,” Marcos said in a statement.