TACLOBAN CITY -Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone has sought the help of Vice-President Noli de Castro and Labor Secretary Marianito Roque for the immediate release of a domestic worker reportedly abused in Lebanon .
Gov. Evardone said that the parents of the overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who are from Barangay San Pedro, Quinapondan, Eastern Samar have asked the help of Mayor Nedito Campo for the safe return of their daughter who has been reportedly abused by her employer.
Evardone however refused to name the reported OFW victim pending the confirmation of the Office of the Vice-President and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) representative in Beirut .
“This information was relayed to me by Mayor Campo and I immediately asked Vice-President De Castro’s help. Allegedly, this OFW has been denied of her salary and is being physically abused by her employer,” Evardone said.
“I asked the help of our national government agencies particularly DOLE through OWWA to locate her and to look into her situation,” the governor said.
Currently, the Philippine government has banned job-seekers into Lebanon amid fighting between Hezbollah gunmen and the Israeli armed forces in 2006.
“This is a matter of national concern. This involves an OFW who is just one of the many workers who are prone from potential abuse and harassment by their Lebanese employers,” Evardone stressed.
“I am apprehensive that if this would not be given an immediate attention, this could be another case left unattended by our national agencies,” he added.
A study conducted by a New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) last year revealed that foreign maids, including Filipinos die in Lebanon often by committing suicide to escape bad treatment by their employers.
The report said these suicides are linked to the isolation and the difficult working conditions these workers face in that country including financial pressure due to earning below minimum wages.
The workers are not also protected by Lebanese labor laws.