OFW accuses agency of P350K ‘blackmail’

An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Riyadh has pleaded for help through DAILY TRIBUNE’s digital show Usapang OFW alleging severe abuse, overwork, and exploitation by her employers and agencies.

Maria Gracia Francisco, a domestic helper who arrived in Riyadh in July, claimed Tuesday that she was forced to do all the work in a large household, including caring for multiple children, despite being the only helper. She said that she suffers from scoliosis, which has made her workload even more challenging.

Francisco said the employer she worked for was not listed on her contract.

“The name on my contract was her son’s, not hers,” she said.

The abuse, she said, was both physical and psychological. Francisco recounted an incident where her employer deliberately crushed her finger in a gate and another where her employer’s son cornered her.

“They did it because they found out I had a second phone to contact my family in the Philippines,” Francisco said.

She also said her employer confiscated her belongings, including her baggage, for two weeks and shoved her face in a trash bin.

Francisco sought help from her agency in Riyadh and the Good Day Recruitment Agency in the Philippines. However, she said the Philippine agency attempted to blackmail her, demanding P350,000 and threatening to harm her family if she did not pay up.

Currently, Francisco said she is working for a second household but she did not sign a contract with her new employer.

She said that her previous agency sold her to her new employer without her consent.

Despite several appeals by her family to the agency and to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), no steps to help her have been taken.

Francisco continues to work for her current employer, having been transferred under false pretenses, while her ordeal persists.