Gov't to prosecute recruiter of abused OFW

Manila, Philippines -  Vice President Jejomar Binay vowed yesterday to prosecute the recruiters of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who was abused in Jordan.

Binay, presidential adviser on OFWs’ concerns, said the recruiter of Diana Castillo, 24, of Taal, Batangas could be held liable for hiring her to work in Jordan despite a deployment ban.

“All her papers are for Abu Dhabi, but then she was brought to Jordan,” he said.

Binay, who also chairs the Presidential Taskforce Against Illegal Recruitment and is chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, said Castillo left the Philippines on March 31 after securing a job as a skilled worker, supposedly in Abu Dhabi. She was brought to Amman to work as a domestic helper.

After two weeks of being abused, Castillo jumped from the third floor of a building to escape her employers. She arrived in Manila Friday and went to Binay’s office at the Coconut Palace.

Binay said Castillo’s local recruitment agency, Crosswind International Manpower Services, has been put under preventive suspension by Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Hans Leo Cacdac. He also recommended that POEA look into the possibility of filing human trafficking charges against Crosswind.

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Amman found that Crosswind was using job orders of legitimate employers for skilled workers to be able to send domestic workers to Jordan.

Castillo said her employers started maltreating her on her second day. “They spit on my food before giving it to me,” she said.           

Castillo said she was also burned, beaten and starved by her employers. She said she climbed out of a third floor window using a makeshift rope fashioned with her blanket and a pillow case.

She fell and neighbors rushed her to the Prince Hamza Hospital, where she was confined for two months due to a broken leg and bruised liver. She now has a stainless steel implant in her thighbone.

Binay said Castillo’s repatriation was hampered because the hospital refused to release her without paying her bills, which by then had reached almost $13,000.

 “One of our welfare officers stationed in our embassy in Jordan, Mario Antonio, was able to convince the hospital to release Diana,” Binay said.

He added that Antonio told the hospital that Castillo’s employer and agency should be responsible in paying her bills. After Antonio informed the hospital that the Philippine embassy will also be filing a case in court against the employer and the recruitment agency, Castillo was released to the embassy.