MANILA, Philippines—An 18-year-old housemaid filed a criminal case against her former employer, the brother of business tycoon Lucio Tan.
Mary Jane Sollano filed the case before the Justice department for maltreatment, illegal detention, slavery and frustrated homicide against Mariano Tan, his wife Aleta and children Maximilian and Fayette.
In her three-page affidavit, the victim detailed the “physical and mental abuses†she suffered in the hands of the Tan family in their Quezon City residence from July 2004 up to August 10.
Sollano said she and the other house help were “not allowed to use the telephone or cell phone, talk to fellow house helpers, laugh, sit in their (family's) chairs, look
outside the window, watch TV, eat at any time, sleep or rest before our tasks were completed, and read any material or write.â€
She also claimed that Tan’s wife slapped her in the face repeatedly.
“In my five-year stay in their house, I was not allowed to go out. They even threatened me that they would do something bad if I ask for help from outside,†Sollano claimed.
She said she tried to escape when she sought permission to go to her province but was not allowed to leave. She added Tan’s wife and Fayette even took nude photos of her.
“When they were not yet satisfied, they would hit me with steel or slippers, and threaten me that they would show my nude photos to other people or bring me to a nightclub owned by Ate Aleta's friend,†she alleged.
Sollano, who had been working for Tan's household for five years and two months, was rescued by operatives from the Quezon City Police District, CHR and DSWD last August 10.
The complainant was joined by lawyer Al Parreno in filing the complaint before the office of State Prosecutor Edna Valenzuela.
Submitted with the complaint were affidavits of representatives from police, Commission on Human Rights and Department of Social Welfare and Development and other persons present during the rescue.
Sollano's parents - fearing she was dead - only learned of their daughter's whereabouts from a fellow maid Aljane Bacanto, who escaped the Tan's household recently.
The father then sought the help of provincemates and private lawyers who then brought them to the CHR to seek assistance from authorities
(Inquirer.net)
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