Some two weeks ago, authorities rescued four house helpers from a house in a remote barangay of Bacong town. They had been in the employ of their Filipina boss and her foreigner-husband, and the fresh wounds and scars on their bodies clearly indicated they were physically-abused.
One of them, a houseboy, claimed that his employers would pour hot water on him if they deemed his work unsatisfactory. The others claimed they would be punched, pinched, shouted at, or hit with a baseball bat.
Clearly, the four househelp were not employees but slaves. It may be shocking to know that such conditions continue to exist here in the Philippines, and even in our own Province of Negros Oriental despite the declaration of Jose Rizal more than a century ago that there are no tyrants where there are no slaves.
One reason these conditions exist is that it is easy to get away with such heinous deeds. There is no law that protects house helpers.
Add to that is the attitude of many parents who make (force) their children work as house helpers to increase their family income.
Advocates for the protection of house helpers or kasambahay in Negros Oriental have expressed disappointment over the seemingly-indifferent attitude of local officials and policy makers to pass an Ordinance requiring domestic workers to register even at the barangay level. Such lobby had been going on for the last five years with no success.
This proposed law is not supposed to favor only the househelp, as it is designed to be beneficial to both the employer and the employee.
A sad commentary these days is that the foremost thing that is seemingly in the minds of politicians now is the 2013 elections.
It could take a miracle for a law protecting house helpers to be passed before the next elections.
But then again, who said miracles don’t happen?
