With PCG Help, 2 FDHs Get Their Children Back
Photo: Social Welfare Attache Elizabeth Lim Dy
By Cheryl M. Arcibal
FILIPINO domestic workers who want to take back custody of their children can seek the help of the Philippine Consulate General (PCG).
Social Welfare Attaché Elizabeth Lim Dy told Hong Kong News that she was coordinating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Philippines to facilitate cases involving Filipino mothers who are working in Hong Kong.
She cited two cases involving Filipino domestic workers who wanted to get custody of their children although they were still working here in Hong Kong.
The first case involved 35-year-old Ria (not her real name), who wanted to get her two-year-old child from the parents of her deceased partner.
Ria is married but is estranged from her husband. While working here in Hong Kong, she got involved with a married man, Ernie (not his real name), and they had a child.
Ria took a two-month vacation in the Philippines in June 2013 and she left the child with Ernie and his parents before coming back here.
But after they had a misunderstanding last year, Ria learned that Ernie committed suicide on November 5, 2015.
Ria sought the assistance of the PCG’s Office of the Social Welfare Attache to help her get custody of her child from Ernie’s parents, who live in Kalinga Province.
She complained that, despite providing financial support, she was prevented by Ernie’s parents from communicating with her daughter.
The Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office in Cagayan assessed the capability of Ria’s parents to take care of the minor while she was working here in Hong Kong.
It determined that the couple was capable of providing “support and security” for the child.
The social welfare officer said it would be in the “best interest” of the child if Ria’s parents took care of her. To avoid protracted legal proceedings, Ernie’s parents agreed to give up the child.
In another case, domestic worker Rina (not her real name) got the chance to bond with her eight-year-old daughter Lani (not her real name) who initially chose to stay with her paternal grandparents in South Cotabato.
Rina said her husband was living in Manila with another woman and that she would rather have her mother take care of Lani.
Rina added that she was worried about her daughter’s security and that she could feel that Lani was emotionally “distant” whenever they talked on the phone.
On July 7, a case conference was held at the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office in South Cotabato. It was attended by 10 persons, including Lani, Rina, the girl’s biological father Eddie (not his real name), his parents, Rina’s mother, and social workers.
When Lani was told that her mother wanted her back, the girl said she would rather stay with her father and her paternal grandparents because they were already taking care of her.
Because of this, the social workers did not compel the girl to go with Rina, who told the social workers that she was planning to stay for good in the Philippines.
Instead, the social workers recommended that Lani spend time with her mother in Cebu from July 8 to 17.
Rina came back to Hong Kong to finish her contract but she informed the PCG that she did not send Lani back to South Cotabato because they had bonded already and that she had enrolled her in a school in Cebu.
In the meantime, Lani is staying with Rina’s mother in Cebu.
Dy said Ria and Rina’s cases showed that there is a way for Filipino mothers working in Hong Kong to get custody of their children from their husbands or in-laws as long as they can provide valid reasons for doing so and that they have relatives who would be more suitable caretakers of their children in the Philippines. For those with inquiries, please visit the PCG or call 28238501/91554023 and ask for Attache Dy.
(Source: HongKongNews.com.hk)