PHL to pursue case vs. Marjorie Lizada’s employers, agency

Philippine authorities will pursue a case against the employers of rescued OFW in Kuwait, Marjorie Lizada, for allegedly maltreating her, GMA News' Marisol Abdurahman reported on 24 Oras on Wednesday.

Lizada, 24, was rescued Tuesday night a day after GMA News reported the alleged maltreatment, which included pulling her toenails and selling her to other families.

"Pananagutin natin ang employer at dapat may sumbong [o] reklamo from the Kuwaiti side for the maltreatment na dinanas niya," said Hans Leo Cacdac, head of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

Even Lizada's recruitment agency in the Philippines will also be held liable, Cacdac said.

After Lizada's situation was reported, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office coordinated with the Kuwaiti Police, which ordered her employers to bring her to the police station.

Lizada, who also accused her employers of sexually molesting her, has already communicated with her family in the Philippines following her rescue.

Cacdac said they are now in the process of repatriating Lizada, who started working in Kuwait in October 2016.

The government has stopped the deployment of newly hired Filipino workers to Kuwait following reports of abuses, among them the killing of Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found inside a freezer in an unoccupied apartment unit earlier this month.  —KBK, GMA News