After Four Years, Scalded OFW in Saudi Arabia is Going Home
Filipina domestic worker Pahima Alagasi (right), who suffered serious burns when her employer’s mother allegedly poured boiling water on her back four years ago, receives her two months' worth of salary from Saudi Arabian Deputy Interior Minister Nasser Al-Daood (center) at the Ministry of Interior in Riyadh. With them is Ambassador Adnan Alonto (left) who was among those who made representations with Saudi authorities to secure the exit permit for Alagasi who is scheduled to arrive in Manila tomorrow, 13 April 2018.
12 April 2018 RIYADH — The Filipina domestic worker in Saudi Arabia who accused her employer’s mother of scalding her with boiling water four years ago will be reunited with her loved ones in the Philippines on Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said today.
The DFA said Pahima Alagasi will depart for Manila on Thursday evening after the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh was able to secure the assistance of Saudi authorities in clearing the way for her return to the country.
“Finally, after four long years, Pahima will be able to again embrace her children who she left behind in Mindanao more than four years ago,” Ambassador to Riyadh Adnan Alonto said.
The 30-year-old Alagasi left the Philippines in March 2014 and served as a household service worker in Riyadh but sought refuge at the Embassy two months later after she was hospitalized with serious burns she claimed she sustained after the mother of her employer poured boiling water on her back.
The Embassy assisted Alagasi, a separated mother of two from Pikit, North Cotabato, in filing a case of maltreatment against the mother of her employer but this was dismissed after she failed to prove her accusation. Alagasi has been staying at the Embassy’s Bahay Kalinga shelter since then and could not return to the Philippines because her employer filed a counter case against her.
Ambassador Alonto cited the critical role of Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Saud Bin Naif who approved her final exit from the Kingdom after a protracted four-year legal battle with her employer.
“Pahima’s return would not have been possible without the help of Prince Abdulaziz and we would like to express our profound gratitude to him for his magnanimous gesture,” said Ambassador Alonto, who will be accompanying Alagasi on her flight to Manila.
Ambassador Alonto reported to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano that it was Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Nasser Al-Daood who informed him during a meeting on Sunday that Alagasi can now return to the Philippines. During that meeting, Deputy Minister Al-Daood also turned over to Alagasi two month’s worth of unpaid salaries from her employer.
Alagasi said that she is grateful that she will finally be able to return to the Philippines after waiting for the resolution of her case and thanked Prince Abdulaziz and the Government of Saudi Arabia for facilitating her exit from the Kingdom.
She also expressed her gratitude to President Duterte, Secretary Cayetano, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Rep. Aniceto John Bertiz, Ambassador Alonto and personnel of the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh as well as Executive Director Susan Ople of the Blas Ople Policy Center and members of the Filipino Community in Riyadh for their assistance.
Aside from providing her with legal assistance, the Embassy also provided Alagasi with medical and social assistance and kept her in constant touch with her family in North Cotabato. END
For more information, visit www.riyadhpe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinKSA