Saudi rights agency to probe case of Pinoy forced to drink bleach: DFA

news.abs-cbn.com

Image (not from article), from

MANILA - Saudi Arabia's highest human rights body will look into the case of the overseas Filipino worker who was hospitalized after her employer forced her to drink bleach, a Foreign Affairs official said Thursday.

Agnes Mancilla, a Filipino helper in Jizan, was rushed to the intensive care unit of the King Fahad Central Hospital earlier this week after her employer forced her to drink the chemical after she made a mistake in making tea.

Mancilla, who regained consciousness on Wednesday, said her employer made her work for about 20 hours a day and only gave her coffee for meals.

"The National Society for Human Rights in Saudi Arabia visited Agnes at the hospital on Wednesday to interview her and check the extent of her injuries," Elmer Cato, Acting Assistant Secretary of the DFA Office of Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis], told reporters.

"The Society is an independent non-government organization cloaked with the power to investigate and make appropriate recommendations to the Prosecution Office based on its findings. We believe it demonstrates the resolve of Saudi authorities to bring those responsible for Agnes’s horrifying ordeal to justice," he added.

The Foreign Affairs Department said Mancilla's recruiting agency in Saudi Arabia agreed "to help pay for her medical and related expenses."

Mancilla will soon be transferred to Jeddah where she will meet her family who will be flown in by the government to the Gulf state next week.

Reports about Mancilla's abuse came days after President Rodrigo Duterte met with another OFW [JB - see for definition]  in Saudi who was doused with boiling water by her female employer in Saudi Arabia 4 years ago.