CARTOON EDITORIALS: ‘Where is the punishment?’ By The Philippine Star, Tuesday, February 27, 2018

EDITORIAL – Where is the punishment?

With the two principal suspects in the murder of Joanna Demafelis arrested in Lebanon, the Philippine government is doing its part for justice by going after her recruiters. Unfortunately, however, pursuing recruiters and punishing them for the suffering of their clients do not go hand in hand in this country.

Even in high-profile cases involving abused overseas Filipino workers, the recruiters don’t go to prison. Recruiters were blamed for the tragedy that befell Sarah Balabagan, whose recruiter faked her age in her work and travel documents so she could get around restrictions on the employment of minors. Balabagan, who was just 14 when she went overseas, ended up killing her Emirati employer when he tried to rape her. Balabagan narrowly escaped being executed. Did the scumbag who recruited her ever get punished?

Mary Jane Veloso remains on Indonesia’s death row for smuggling 2.6 kilos of heroin into that country from Malaysia. She was given a stay of execution mainly because she says she was conned by her recruiter, who had promised her a job as a household helper in Malaysia, into becoming an unwitting mule for what seems like a transnational drug ring. Veloso’s recruiters were found and indicted for illegal recruitment, fraud and human trafficking. But with the case now in limbo in the Court of Appeals, Jakarta could give up waiting for her story to be established by Philippine courts, and send her to the firing squad.

Now the heat is on the recruiter of Demafelis, who placed her with the Lebanese and Syrian couple. Even if the recruiters are indicted, will they ever be punished? Equally important, will there be reforms in the recruitment industry to make players more responsible and deter illegal job placements?

Any reform will come too late for Demafelis and the Filipinas who reportedly committed suicide after being raped by their employers in Kuwait. But the reforms can save other OFWs. Especially when combined with the certainty of punishment for illegal recruiters.