DoJ commits legal aid to Pinoy nurses sued in NY

The Department of Justice has committed to extend legal assistance to the 26 Filipino nurses and a physical therapist embroiled in criminal and civil charges in New York with their recruiter, the US-based Sentosa group of companies. Upon the prodding of opposition Senator Panfilo M. Lacson during a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, Justice Assistant Secretary Teresita Domingo pledged to provide the necessary legal aid in accordance with the provisions of the Migrant Workers Act. Republic Act No. 8042, or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 provides for counseling and legal services, among others, to migrant workers and overseas Filipinos in pursuit of establishing a higher standard of protection and promotion of the welfare of Filipino migrants in distress. Lacson initiated a Senate inquiry through Senate Resolution No. 23 in view of complaints that Sentosa Recruitment Agency, the US-based SentosaCare's local extension, continues to recruit health care professionals for deployment to the United States. Remedial legislation The probe on the Sentosa nurses’ sad plight was intended to craft remedial legislations that will provide adequate protection for Filipino health professionals desiring to work overseas. The so-called Sentosa 27++ quit their jobs in April 2006 from the Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in New York. They accused SentosaCare group of companies of breach contract after they were assigned to work outside the scope specified in their contract upon arrival in the US and were paid less than what was promised them. Ten of them, including 2006 medical board top placer Elmer Jacinto, have been accused of conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children in a pediatric ventilator unit after leaving their posts in April last year. Their cases arose from alleged breaches of contract and discriminatory acts by SentosaCare. The 27 Filipino health professionals were charged with a civil case while the 10 are facing criminal charges. A spokesman of Sentosa 27 reported that they could not return to the Philippines because they have hold departure orders as a consequence of the counter-charges filed against them by SentosaCare. In order to survive, some of them work in small-scale hospitals while some remain jobless. They survive through the help of other Filipinos in New York. Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, chairman of the Senate labor committee, said SentosaCare’s local proprietor, Francis Luyun, will be summoned for the next hearing early next year, tentatively set in February. Former presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor, whose name was mentioned in a 2006 privilege speech by Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr to have intervened in Sentosa’s favor, would again be invited. “Itong si Luyon, ipapa-subpoena ko na ‘yan. Siya ‘yung importante. Lisensyado ‘yung Sentosa dito. I think he is the sole proprietor of the Sentosa recruitment agency," Estrada said. Luyun allegedly recruited the Filipino nurses to the US under an immigrant visa in 2004, and 2005. Sentosa allegedly promised the nurses competitive hourly salary rate ranging from $21 to $35, plus medical coverage, relocation and housing allowance, free malpractice insurance, free airfare from Manila to New York, reimbursement of fees for processing certification and licensures, generous night differentials and flexible eight and 12 hours schedules, and comprehensive trainings. When they arrived in New York, Sentosa allegedly reneged on its commitments to the nurses. The agency also turned over the nurses to Sentosa Care, LLC and subsequently to Prompt Nursing Employment Agency/Sentosa. Explain Officials from the DFA, POEA and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) would likewise be grilled on the forms of assistance the agencies have extended to the nurses. The DoLE would be asked to give an update on the pending cases involving Sentosa, as well as on the nature of the nurses’ contract. Estrada said the nurses are able to work temporarily in small health care facilities in New York while trial of the cases they filed and those filed against them are ongoing. Taking up the cudgels for the health workers, Lacson suggested that the DoJ to extend legal assistance to them through the Department of Foreign Affairs or the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). At the Senate labor committee’s first hearing on the plight of the Sentosa 27, Lacson said help from the government is very crucial at this point after hearing the testimonies of some of the nurses' parents who said the nurses are facing underemployment and unemployment. The nurses are expected to show up in court on Dec. 17 for the next hearing on their cases in New York. But Agnes Matienzo of the Center for Migrants Advocacy, said "there is no clear information if the DOJ is extending legal assistance to this group. The POEA, on the other hand, already issued a decision relevant to the findings of the case, dated September 4, 2007. However, POEA’s DA Hans Leo Cacdac failed to discuss what the decision is." Go beyond lip service Lacson said government agencies, particularly the DFA and POEA should go beyond lip service in carrying out its mandate of protecting the rights and promoting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers. "We are the government, they are our citizens. Now that they clearly need help, we must take it upon ourselves to really help out. We always mention that OFWs are instrumental to our economic growth. Even if it's just one or two or three victims, we must not take the risk of adding the number of victims," Lacson said. Legal battle The nurses have received US$25,000 legal assistance from the Philippine government for the litigation expenses. Consul General to New York Cecilia Rebong handed over the amount to 10 representatives of the Sentosa nurses last October 30. The nurses filed before the POEA discrimination charges against Luyun and an administrative case against Sentosa Recruitment Agency for violations of Philippine recruitment rules and regulations. On May 24, 2006, the POEA issued a preventive suspension order against Sentosa, which was lifted on Junes 8, 2006, through the reported intervention of Defensor and US Senator Charles Schumer (Democrat, New York). The POEA argued that since the Filipino nurses were deployed as immigrant workers, US laws should protect their rights, and that the preventive suspension order will prejudice the other 200 applicants being recruited by Sentosa. Another batch of complainants filed similar cases against Sentosa, but up to now, the POEA has not yet issued a resolution on it, further endangering other Filipino nurses being recruited by the agency. Lacson laments the “inutility and indifference of our government agencies in protecting the rights of our health professionals abroad." Ten of the 26 nurses who filed complaints were indicted for conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children and disabled persons on March 22, 2007 in Suffolk County supreme court in New York. The 10 nurses used to work for Avalon Gardens, a healthcare and rehabilitation center where they were assigned by Prompt/Sentosa Services. The American Nurses Association and the New York State Nurses Association had condemned the alleged exploitation by unscrupulous US employers and called for better enforcement of immigration laws. The resolution said: “The lack of sanction despite repeated and recurring violations by Sentosa recruitment agency has emboldened the said agency to continue its violations of our laws to the detriment of our nurses, who, in their desire to have a brighter future for themselves and their families are pursuing the ‘American Dream." In the Senate hearing, the CMA said some issues were not addressed because representatives from OWWA, DFA and Sentosa Recruitment Agency did not show up. "As such, there were no clear courses of action identified except from the appeal of the committee that all concerned agencies should work hand and hand to help expedite the process and extend any possible assistance (especially financial assistance) to the concerned individuals," Matienzo said. The House committee on labor and employment has set a parallel inquiry on December 5.- GMANews.TV, with reports from Fidel Jimenez