MANILA, Philippines – The parents of 31-year-old overseas Filipino worker Joramie Garcia Torres are set to fly to Kuala Lumpur – their first trip abroad – to visit their daughter.

Ramon and Josephine Torres will ride a plane for the first time on Sunday, October 1, but the circumstances behind the trip could not be any more unfortunate – the Malaysian employer of their daughter had scalded Joramie with boiling oil. She was also subjected to beatings.

Overseas Workers Welfare Association (OWWA) Administrator Hans Cacdac and Susan Ople of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center are set to join the Torres couple on Sunday, October 1.

“We will accompany the parents to Malaysia on Sunday so they can see Joramie. First time niya [Joramie] maging OFW (It’s her first time to be an OFW),” Ople told Rappler in a text message.

The Torreses are from Bacoor, Cavite. Ramon is a tricycle driver while Josephine is a laundrywoman. Joramie was a grade school teacher before she flew to Malaysia in December 2016.

Ople said Joramie fled her abusive employer on foot until she collapsed. A fellow Filipino found her and brought her to a church.

“Nakita na lang siya ng kapwa Pilipino malapit daw sa canal, may mga sugat at dugo, dinala sa church. Naglakad ng malayo (She was seen by a fellow Filipino near a canal, wounded and bloodied, and was brought to church. She walked a long distance),” Ople said.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and the Department of Foreign Affairs already met with the couple and vowed to provide assistance.

Ople said the DFA expedited the passport processing while OWWA shouldered the airfare and accommodations.

Joramie is now under the care of the Malaysian government. Charges have been filed against her employer, who was earlier arrested but was able to post bail.

Senate inquiry

Senator Cynthia Villar said in a statement that she will file a resolution calling for an inquiry into the rising number of migrant domestic workers, as well as cases of abuse and maltreatment.

The senator expressed dismay over the rise in the number of Filipinos being deployed overseas as domestic workers.

Citing data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, Villar said the Philippines deployed 275,073 first-time domestic workers overseas, compared to 194,835 in 2015 and 183,101 in 2014.

“Why are we sending more domestic workers now than ever before? Last year, the records of the POEA showed that we have almost breached the 300,000-mark in terms of newly hired migrant domestic workers. We should focus our attention more in offering women workers decent local jobs rather than facilitating their deployment to foreign households under slave-like conditions,” she said.

In the case of Joramie, Villar called on the DFA to extend legal and humanitarian assistance to Joramie, citing its P1-billion Assistance to Nationals Fund.

“I hope that the P1-billion in Assistance to Nationals Fund of the DFA can be used to better protect and help our OFWs especially hundreds of thousands of domestic workers living and working under vulnerable conditions worldwide,” the senator said.

“We all should be proud and supportive of Joramie because she is intent on seeking justice under Malaysian law. While she cooperates with the Malaysian government, I hope that the DFA and DoLE can also assist her indigent family,” she added.  – Rappler.com