Press Release
May 18, 2009

Locked-up OFW returns home from Dubai

A Filipina migrant worker who was injured by her employer and locked up by her agency finally came home from Dubai after Nacionalista Party president Manny Villar paid for her return ticket amounting to US$400.

Maria Caridad "Maricar" Evangelista Laganzo, 35, married with four children, arrived in Manila via Gulf Air today (May 18, 11:10 a.m.) welcomed by Villar and her family.

On Oct. 3, 2008, Anakpawis and Migrante International held a picket in front of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) office to demand action on the plight of runaway overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded in Middle East countries, highlighting the case of Maricar, who was then facing danger in the hands of her agency in Dubai.

At the time when the country was hosting the global forum on migration and development last year, the OFW's case, which was presented to the Department of Foreign Affairs, caught the attention of mass media.

Anakpawis and Migrante sought the personal help of Senator Villar, who is known for his OFW advocacy, and who promptly committed to shoulder her repatriation.

"Maricar's family has long been waiting for her repatriation after her ordeal in the Middle East, and we are happy that she has returned safe and whole," said Villar, who booked her flight and e-mailed the ticket to the OFW on May 15.

She arrived in Dubai in October 2007 to work as domestic helper and was eventually maltreated by her employer, who injured her by throwing a chair on her, denied her proper wages, and threatened to send her to jail.

In September 2008, Maricar was sent by her employer back to the agency after several media people tried to contact her employer. She was illegally detained for nearly a month in a cramped kitchen without ventilation and without adequate food and supplies by her agency, who also cut communication lines and slapped the helpless migrant worker at a whim.

On October 5, 2008, she escaped from the agency and went to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration center in Dubai where support from the Filipino community in the United Arab Emirates poured in for the distraught OFW. However, her agency filed a case against her for allegedly breaking the glass doors of the office, with the intention of robbery, aimed at harassing her.

Villar, in his personal and voluntary capacity, has set up "Sagip-OFW Helpline" dedicated to OFWs in distress to give them venue to air their predicament for timely assistance. The senator has been giving repatriation, medical, and various forms of assistance to migrant workers.

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