Despite the many stresses and adjustments our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are faced with abroad, the call of duty requires them to provide the best service and effort they can to their employers, especially if they are handing children and/or elderly wards.
However, the demands of work, and other challenges these domestic workers are faced with such as language barrier, family problems, and living conditions can sometimes cause people to overlook their responsibilities and “snap” in brief and unguarded situations.
Pinay in HK Sent to Jail for Hurting Elderly Ward with Stool, as Caught on Video
However, despite these external factors, we are not excused to cause hurt to other people, especially when they are considered as “vulnerable” victims such as children, elderly, and the sick. This is something which a Filipina worker in Hong Kong was forced to learn the hard way after having been sentenced to four months in jail for causing hurt to her bedridden elderly ward on March 8, as shared in a report by the Sun HK.
The Filipina worker, Ivy Rebustillo, was tried and found guilty of common assault, whose offense was aggravated by her ward’s condition, being bedridden and unable to defend himself.
In passing the decision, Eastern magistrate Selma Masood pointed out another aggravating factor which was the element of breach of trust, as Rebustillo was hired to take care of the semi-paralyzed elderly man, who was only identified as “Mister X”.
And while the defence counsel pleaded for a “short but suspended sentence” on the defendant on account of her clear record, having four-year old son and an elderly mother, who depended on her for support, the magistrate ruled out the suspended sentence on account of the aggravating factors, heavily supported by evidence as shown in a CCTV footage used in the trial.
Meanwhile, Masood acquitted Rebustillo on the charge of indecent assault, explaining that what Rebustillo did (holding the ward’s private part) was only part of her job, given the victim’s condition at the time. However, it was also taken into consideration in passing the sentence under the context of common assault.