OFW Rights Advocates to Duterte: Recall Teehankee as DFA Exec, He Abused a Pinay Kasambahay
Manuel Teehankee. SCREENGRAB FROM YOUTUBE
MANILA – The appointment of lawyer Manuel Teehankee as undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs should be recalled, as he has been found guilty by a Swiss court of underpaying his Filipina domestic helper, migrant workers’ rights advocates Ellene Sana and Jojo Sycip said in a statement.
“On December 17, 2014, the Geneva Police Court in Switzerland found Atty. Manuel A.J. Teehankee guilty of usury (Article 157 Swiss Criminal Code) (criminal case of usury, P/16272/2005) and sentenced him to ‘60 days’ on probation and a fine of 400 Swiss francs for paying his Filipino domestic worker or kasambahay only 12 percent of Geneva’s legislated minimum wage,” Sana and Sycip said.
Sana, who is executive director of Center for Migrants Advocacy, and Sycip, of the Geneva Forum for Philippine Concerns, thus asked President Rodrigo Duterte to recall Teehankee’s appointment as DFA Undersecretary for International Economic Relations.
“Atty. Teehankee exploited one of our own. That behavior is unbecoming of any Filipino public servant whose mandate is to protect Filipinos,” they said.
“Mr. President, if you retain him as DFA Undersecretary you will be sending the wrong and dangerous message that it is acceptable for Filipinos to exploit other Filipinos especially those deemed inferior in social status — just because they (the abusers) are ‘needed’ in government.
“We appeal to you to send this public message instead: Filipino domestic workers, here and abroad, are human beings and our most important resources, not commodities, and that we — government and citizens — have to treat these workers with respect and dignity,” Sana and Sycip said.
“When the ones who have sworn to protect are the ones who exploit — that is the worst kind of exploitation. No to Atty. Manuel A.J. Teehankee as DFA Undersecretary! He exploited one of our own,” they added.
Case history
Citing Geneva court ruling, Sana and Sycip said the Filipina domestic worker claimed to have worked, from 6 a.m. to midnight every single day and was not allowed to take at least one day off per week.
The ruling, which dragged for 10 years because Teehankee invoked his diplomatic immunity, was not appealed by Teehankee, who at the time in March 2005 was ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The kasambahay first filed the case for amicable settlements put in place by the Swiss government for claims against diplomats. After failing to do so, she filed a criminal case in September 2005. In protest, she also stopped working for Teehankee.
In February 2006, Teehankee agreed to pay the minimum wages due his kasambahay, but refused to pay any compensation for overtime, annual leave, and unjust dismissal. In retaliation, he terminated her contract a few days after she staged a one-woman strike.
“Yes, the case has been resolved, but obviously, we have not learned the important lesson: The exploitation of kasambahays by diplomats is not acceptable, and we must do everything to prevent cases like this one from recurring,” Sana and Sycip said, noting that Teehankee’s is not the first such case of Filipino diplomats exploiting kasambahays and hiding behind the cloak of “diplomatic immunity.”
“We must stop the DFA from believing that it is not in its mandate to hold DFA personnel accountable over ‘personal issues.’ The welfare of our OFWs, especially the most vulnerable among them like the kasambahays, is never simply a personal matter. It is always a matter of public interest and social justice,” they added.
(Source: InterAksyon.com)