PH Consulate General in Los Angeles Facilitates Reunion of Nanay Fedelina, Family
Philippine Consul General to Los Angeles Adelio Angelito S. Cruz (center) welcomes Nanay Fedelina Lugasan (fourth from left), her family members, Luz Lugasan Alabado (first from left), Leonila Lugasan Cinco (second from left), and Aquilina S. Versoza (rightmost). (Los Angeles PCG photo)
LOS ANGELES 27 March 2020 – These days couldn’t be brighter for Nanay Fedelina Lugasan. A victim of a six-decade domestic slavery in the US, turned advocate of the fight against human trafficking, Nanay Fedelina finally met her family who flew to the US from Manila.
Philippine Consul General to Los Angeles Adelio Angelito S. Cruz welcomed Nanay Fedelina Lugasan and her Philippine-based relatives on 09 March 2020. Nanay Fedelina and her relatives were accompanied by representatives from the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California (PWC).
Nanay Fedelina and her relatives conveyed their sincerest gratitude to Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel G. Romualdez for all the assistance extended to them, especially in securing the United States visas of Nanay Fedelina’s relatives.
Nanay Fedelina and her relatives likewise met with the media and the public in a program arranged by PWC entitled “Muling Pagkikita: A Family Reunion” on 10 March 2020. A panel discussion on labor and human trafficking was held in conjunction with the reunification, which was attended by various migrants advocates and members of the media.
In Consul General Cruz’ remarks during the program, he expressed his appreciation to PWC for its continued collaboration with the Consulate General as well as the collective efforts of various advocates in ensuring that Nanay Fedelina be given justice.
Consul General Cruz added that it takes only one person to identify, suspect, and assist a possible human trafficking victim that would change one person’s life forever. He calls on the community to continue to report trafficking victims to the authorities and that the Philippine government will continue to extend all possible assistance to them.
Since her rescue in early 2018 from a slave-like condition of domestic servitude for more than six decades at the hands of a family from Southern California, Nanay Fedelina has been an active anti-trafficking advocate herself. She shares her story during meetings and gatherings of migrants advocates to help in the fight against all forms of trafficking, as well as to inspire other trafficking victims to come into the open to receive justice for themselves. END
From left: Deputy Consul General Ambrosio Brian F. Enciso III, Chrystine Abcede (granddaughter), Luz Lugasan Alabado (niece), Leonila Lugasan Cinco (sister), Philippine Consul General to Los Angeles Adelio Angelito S. Cruz, Madame Catherine A. Cruz, Nanay Fedelina Lugasan, Aquilina S. Versoza (PWC Executive Director), Malou Villacisneros (PWC Operations Manager), Philippine Consul General in Los Angeles’ Assistance-to-Nationals Officer Judelyn M. Cuaresma. (Los Angeles PCG photo)
From left: Edward Jez Camino, Luz Lugasan Alabado, Nanay Fedelina Lugasan, Leonila Lugasan Cinco, Chrystine Abcede, and Philippine Consul General to Los Angeles Adelio Angelito S. Cruz. (Los Angeles PCG photo)
Panel discussion on labor and human trafficking by various migrants advocates composed of Immigration Lawyer Atty. Juliana Zhu, PWC Executive Director Aquilina S. Versoza, Federal Bureau of Investigation Cristal Mills, U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants Alexander Delgado, Immigration Lawyer Atty. Ian Seruelo, and PWC Case Manager Aurora Andalajao. (Los Angeles PCG photo)
From left: Luz Lugasan Alabado, Nanay Fedelina Lugasan, Leonila Lugasan Cinco, and Chrystine Abcede. (Los Angeles PCG photo)
For more information, visit https://www.philippineconsulatela.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinLA/.