Filipina Claims Employer Burned Her with Flatiron
By Vir B. Lumicao
Hard luck struck two Filipina sisters at the weekend, after the younger one was reportedly burned on her back with a hot flatiron by her elderly male employer. Her sister, who was employed by the elderly man’s son, was subsequently sacked for allegedly colluding to make up the scalding story.
The alleged burn victim, Rizza del Rosario from Piat, Cagayan, said she was also forced to terminate her contract by her employer of just over a month. Rizza was accompanied by The SUN to the Mission for Migrant Workers on Dec. 13 to seek help the morning after the reported attack.
Rizza’s photograph showing two ugly blistery burn marks on her back were posted overnight Saturday by her friends along with an appeal for help to bring her justice.
At about the time The SUN had established contact with the victim, her elder sister Rona was given her walking orders by the son of the alleged assailant. Both father and son are surnamed Tang.
“I was folding the clothes that I had just ironed when the old man suddenly pressed the flatiron against my back. I screamed in pain and cried,” related Rizza, who arrived in Hong Kong on Nov 10 to serve the 82-year-old elder Tang and his 80-year-old wife.
Photographs posted online by her friends clearly showed two red burn marks on both sides of her upper back.
She said the attack happened in the early evening of Dec 12, when only she and the old man were in his flat in Mei Foo Sun Chuen. When the wife arrived and saw the distressed helper, she accused Rizza of lying, telling her that her husband was a kind man.
“They called the police and when an officer came to the flat, the couple told him I myself inflicted the burns, and the officer apparently believed them. He asked me to sign a document which said I caused the injury myself,” Rizza said.
Later, when the younger Tang came over to the old man’s flat, he opposed Rizza’s plea to go to the hospital for medical treatment, allegedly telling her that they won’t treat her there and that he was certain about it because he supposedly worked in the hospital.
The victim also showed The SUN a resignation letter which the couple had allegedly ordered her to write and sign before she could leave the house that evening. “I signed it because they told me I won’t be able to leave if I didn’t do so,” Rizza said.
In that letter, Rizza informed the employer that she was resigning effective Dec 12 for an undisclosed reason. The latter part of the document stated various amounts totaling $4,000 that she was to receive, including $2,000 for her plane ticket and $200 for her transport cost from Manila to her hometown.
Rizza told The SUN that since her arrival, the old man was always nagging her or throwing things at her when he was displeased.
“He would also ask me to massage him often but would scold me if I did not press too hard. If I told the wife about it, she’d only smile,” the Filipina said.
She said it was her sister Rona who enticed her to come to Hong Kong when Rizza was working in Malaysia, and recommended her to the elder Tang.
She quit the job in Malaysia and waited for a month in Manila while her papers and Hong Kong visa were being processed.
“I’ve made a mistake, my employers in Malaysia were kind,” she said with regret.
On Dec 13, Cynthia Tellez, executive director of the Mission, interviewed Rizza, who was later joined by Rona at the NGO’s offices. After lunch, they went to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wanchai for a medical checkup and treatment of Rizza’s burns.
Rizza was also made to fill up a form and make a written statement about her ordeal, which, together with the medical certificate, would support a complaint to be filed with the police against the employer.
As of the evening of Dec 13, Bethune House executive director Edwina Antonio said the shelter was making space available for Rizza and Rona.