Senator Raffy Tulfo strongly condemned the severe maltreatment and abuse of kasambahay Elvie Vergara by her employer from Occidental Mindoro who subjected her to physical and emotional abuse since 2020.
During the Senate hearing of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights recently, Tulfo proposed a one-strike policy against abusive employers and higher criminal liability for their acts of harm against domestic helpers.
“The unfortunate incident of Vergara should be a wake up call for them to review the Domestic Workers Act and other laws pertaining to domestic workers.”
The legislator added that the unfortunate incident of Vergara should be a “wake up call” for them to review the Domestic Workers Act and other laws pertaining to domestic workers.
The lawmaker, who has been helping abused domestic helpers seeking help through his radio show for more than two decades now, said “sa aking programa, hindi na bago ang mga kwento ng mga kawawang kasambahay natin na inaapi”.
In the case of Vergara, she was accused of stealing P12,000 in cash and a watch, which supposedly prompted her employer to hurt her in the last three years, causing her partial blindness and other traumas.
The senator lamented that abusive employers normally use Qualified Theft to threaten innocent domestic helpers like Vergara and stop them from reporting to authorities their ordeal.
As such, he vowed to pass a bill that will remove kasambahays from the provisions of qualified theft under the revised penal code.
Tulfo explained that in the current law, domestic workers are punished with a penalty two degrees higher than the penalty for regular theft, which he called “very discriminatory and anti-poor.”
“Qualified Theft should only punish those given clear trust and confidence with property of the owner.”
“Alam niyo ba ‘pag binasa mo itong batas na ito, ang tawag pa sa ating mga kasambahay ay domestic servant. Napaka-makaluma na pag-iisip. Qualified Theft should only punish those given clear trust and confidence with property of the owner,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, aside from Vergara’s employer, Tulfo said a criminal case should also be filed against Chairman Jimmy Patal for dereliction of duty on top of serious illegal detention.
According to Vergara, she ran to the barangay hall sometime in 2021 for help after escaping the Ruiz family but Patal, instead of helping her, called her employer instead to report her presence. Vergara was later returned to her employer who illegally detained her after said incident.
Asked if a case of dereliction of duty will suffice, a lawyer from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) confirmed that it could be a ground for a case buildup.
Meanwhile, a case of serious illegal detention against Patal is already pending before the Office of the City Prosecutor of Batangas.
