Another Filipina domestic worker denounces diplomat in US

[mallard]

Source: ABS-CBN News (Philippines)

WASHINGTON DC - "Another Filipina domestic helper has come out to denounce a member of the diplomatic community here.

"Ma. Loisa Gil – Malou to friends - tells ABS-CBN News that Oren Sagir, allegedly a member of the Israeli Embassy security staff, violated the work contract they signed in Quezon City in September 2006 before she agreed to go to the United States. The contract specified wages of $284 a week plus overtime but Gil alleges she was paid barely half of that promised amount.

"'Sana $1,200 a month, ang ginagawa $500 a month lang. Kukuhanan pa ‘yan ng renta ng bahay. Kaunti na lang matitira, mga $300 a month na lang, papadala ka pa sa Pilipinas,' she said."

...

"She claimed to have regularly worked 10 to 12-hour days - on some days - close to midnight taking care of her employer’s five-month-old child, without overtime pay."

Read more: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=13029...

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Free room and board, she probably doesn't pay US taxes - why rock the boat?

[fasttense]

1. Everyone ought to have a slave, a menial. n/t

[JCMach1]

2. Bloody typical... People try to pull this with the hired help

all the time here in the ME... and it appears the traditions holds true in Israel as well.

[Blue_Tires]

4. yeah, it seems like we are seeing more and more of these kinds of stories

[WhiteTara]

3. the word "intolerable" comes to mind

what a question! Is that how you live?

[mallard]

5. Re: intolerable

I'd hope you could refer your question: 'Is that how you live?' - to the employers.

If it was for me, well then, I apologize for not having made myself perfectly clear. The root problem is half a world away from Washington, literally, and for all that's wrong 'inside the beltway', the US remains a beacon of hope (believe it or not) for Filipinos trying to break through a glass ceiling regarding imposed class distinctions.

The idea that this woman could be abused and her contract ignored - because she's 'just' a Filipina - is the reason I found the story worth posting.



There's still nowhere else like America for Filipinos to realize their full potential as 'first world' citizens - unfortunately.

For me, it's really become an obsession.







mallard, nantou county taiwan

[WhiteTara]

6. Where you live is beautiful

Mallard, I think we are all the same. We think it looks like it would be better to be someplace else. In the end, I think it is just how we live our lives and love the people around us. But if you should come to the US, we would hope that you would "Rock the boat" if things are wrong.

That people are horrible and take advantage of others is an all too often told story. How some people can live with themselves, I just don't know. It is good to see Estrada with a jail sign in front of him. He is another who takes advantage of others and I hope he stays in jail a long time.

I am glad the woman exposed the diplomat. He needed to be held accountable for his actions.

[mallard]

7. Re: good to see joe

Well, actually, I'm from Massachusetts and rock the boat often. The USS Tripoli - for five months as a PACE instructor for Wespac '83 - was the biggest one I ever mananged to rock. That summer, Ninoy Aquino made his fateful return to Manila and much has happened since, we'd have to agree.

Maybe I hold a record for most visits by an American to that country without being married or assigned there - just as a tourist on a bicycle. I'm not as sure you and I are so similar as you might have thought.

Estrada is more a victim than a criminal in the end. The poor saw him as a hero for them - as one who 'came up' to be elected from and by the masses.

He was set up and knocked down by the same entrenched oligarchs who've mismanaged national affairs ever since taking over from him on January 20th, 2001 - a date which incidentally might ring a bell with Americans, but one which has no real relation to anything else Filipino.

Gloria is nice, but a mestissa dingbot, married to a monied,landowner Chinoy hustler. Ninoy was actually also a rich Chinoy hustler himself - who taught at Harvard, no less.

Cory did OK in her time - better than the husband ever could have, in fact.



Cheers.