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PHL envoy to US meets Nanay Fedelina: ‘We must do our best for OFWs’
From 1981 until only last year, Nanay Fedelina was kept as a slave in the US, made to work for a family who confiscated her passport and kept her away from her family for so long that when she was finally repatriated at the age of 82, she could no longer identify her family members except for a niece.
Her heartbreaking case affected even seasoned diplomats, with the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles saying that it had never seen a case of modern-day slavery as "grave" as hers.
"Being made a slave for 37 years, that’s a lifetime already," said Consul General Adelio Cruz.
Last month, Nanay Fedelina met with Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez, who stressed the Philippine government's vow to protect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
"The President instructed us (government officials abroad) to prioritize Overseas Filipinos. We must do our best to safeguard their welfare,” he said, according to a statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday.
Romualdez and Fedelina's meeting was facilitated by the Pilipino Workers Center (PWC) who wishes to share her story so "no more Filipinos would fall victim to modern day slavery."
READ: After decades of slavery in US, Filipina tastes freedom at 82
In its statement, the DFA said that Nanay Fedelina "came from a generation when slave-like employment practices or highly unregulated domestic employment were still commonplace in the Philippines."
It added that even though transnational slavery has long been abolished, slavery still exists "in the form of human trafficking, forced labor, debt bondage, unpaid salaries, and many others."
Fedelina was rescued by PWC with the US law enforcement in 2018. She won her case in court with their help.
However, she refused to press for charges against the offenders.
"I want to go home to Tacloban and find my family,” she said. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News
