The recruiter of the 17-year-old housemaid and the girl Friday of former actress Princess Revilla were charged with physical injury, child labor and child abuse yesterday before the Pasig City prosecutor’s office.

Volunteer lawyers Yvonne Gaddi Festejo and Irene Alogoc said recruiter Ruth Bajas and Revilla’s assistant, Ethel Avenido face the same charges earlier filed against Revilla.

Revilla (Rebecca Bautista-Ocampo in real life) failed to appear before the Pasig court yesterday. Her lawyer asked the court for a five-day extension to file her counter-affidavit on the case.

This developed as lawyer Cirilo Avila, representing the victim’s mother, asked the court to transfer custody of the housemaid from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to the victim’s parents.

Avila said they are also asking the court to disallow the DSWD and the housemaid’s volunteer lawyers from representing her because they are not authorized.

The housemaid’s lawyers earlier questioned the sudden appearance of the victim’s mother, who flew in from Samar, apparently to try to convince her daughter to withdraw the charges against Revilla.

Alogoc strongly believes influential people are pressuring the lawyers and DSWD officials protecting the victim.

“This battle is against a prominent family, which makes it difficult for the victim and us. We need all the support we can get. We hope that this case will not have the same fate as the previous cases filed against Revilla, where the maids did not appear on the scheduled hearings for unknown reasons,” Alogoc said.

She also clarified that during a preliminary investigation hearing before the office of prosecutor Dennis Pastrana last July 14, the mother grabbed the victim by the neck, shouting at her to withdraw the case against Revilla and just go home to Samar.

The victim, however, shouted back that she will pursue the case and that she refuses to go home until the case is finished.

The housemaid’s mother and cousin claimed they were treated like criminals during the hearing, but Alogoc said the two women started the commotion when they tried to wrest the victim away from the social workers.

Alogoc said someone must be instructing the two women to cause disturbances during the hearing and make the DSWD workers appear to be the aggressors.

– Non Alquitran

THE lawyers of the 17-year-old housemaid who was beaten up by actress Princess Revilla, sister of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla, included the recruiter and the actress’ girl Friday in the charged sheet.

This after volunteer lawyers Yvonne Gaddi Festejo and Irene Alogoc filed charges against Ruth Bajas, recruiter of the housemaid and Ethel Avenido, the assistant of Princess, before the Pasig City Prosecutor’s Office late afternoon yesterday.

The lawyers said charges of violation of Republic Act 7610 (Child Abuse), and Republic Act 9231 (Child Labor), and physical injury charges were also filed against the two.

The same charges were already filed against Princess.

Meanwhile, Princess failed to appear before the Pasig court yesterday as her lawyer represented her and asked the court for a five-day extension to file her counter-affidavit.

On the other hand, the mother of the housemaid who was accompanied by her lawyer Atty. Cirilo Avila also appeared before the prosecutor’s office to file manifestation in intervention asking the court to transfer the custody of the child to her mother.

Avila, said they are asking the court to disallow and not authorized the DSWD and the victim’s lawyers to represent the housemaid due to an alleged unauthorized representation.

The earlier questioned the sudden appearance of the victim’s mother apparently to convince her daughter to withdraw the charges against the actress.

Atty. Alogoc, also believed that there are influential people who want to get their hands on this case and are giving too much pressure on the lawyers and the officials of the DSWD who are now protecting the victim.

“This battle is against a prominent family, which makes it difficult for the victim and us. We need all the support we can get. We hope that this case will not have the same fate as the previous cases filed against Revilla, where the maids did not appear on the scheduled hearings for unknown reason,” Atty. Alogoc said.

Alogoc was reacting to the incident that happened last July 14, 2008 during the preliminary investigation of the criminal cases filed against Revilla before the office of Piscal Dennis Pastrana at the 7th floor of Pasig City hall of Justice.

Alogoc said that the victim’s mother Herminia Arota, 56, suddenly appeared and rushed to her side and grabbed the victim with two arms by the neck.

“Huwag mo ng ituloy ang kaso laban kay Princess. Umuwi na tayo ng Samar,” the mother reportedly shouted in Waray to her daughter.

However, the victim also shouted in Waray saying: “itutuloy ko ang kaso hindi ako uuwi ng Samar hangga’t hindi tapos ang kaso.”

Alogoc said that the mother even prevented her daughter to take her oath on the supplemental complaint as she prevented her from standing up and repeatedly saying to withdraw the case against Revilla.

Contrary to the claim of the mother and her niece Mary Bacayo,31 that they were treated as criminals when they tried to talk with the victim, the lawyer disclosed that it was the mother and Bacayo who started the commotion when they tried to grabbed the victim from the DSWD possession.

The lawyer said that they doubted that someone is instructing the mother and Bacayo to cause disturbances during the hearing and make the DSWD appear as aggressors.

Atty. Alogoc was also skeptical where the victim’s relatives took their money in going to Manila as they all know that the victim was coming from a poor family.

However, Atty. Avila explained that a non-government group was financially supporting the victim as he was also not asking for any fee from the victim’s mother.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) began yesterday the implementation of a four-year project aimed at providing free education to over 9,000 child workers in the country.

This means that child workers nationwide can now look forward to a better future as they abandon their jobs and go back to school, labor officials said.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the DOLE is signing today with the World Vision Development Foundation (WVDF) and the Christian Children’s Fund (CCF) an agreement to implement the project and give child workers access to educational opportunities.

Roque said the project, dubbed “Pag-aaral ng mga Bata Para sa Kinabukasan” (ABK2) or Take Every Action for Children (TEACH), would be undertaken with grants from the United States’ Department of Labor.

Under the project, DOLE said children who used to work in the mining industry, pyrotechnics and sugarcane plantations will be back in class this school year.

Former scavengers, domestic helpers, fishermen, and child prostitutes are also among the beneficiaries of the program.

After four years of project implementation, some 30,000 child workers are expected to complete elementary and secondary education.

Roque said representatives from the DOLE, WDF, CCF, and other social partners in the national drive against child labor would gather at the Bulacan State University (BSU) in Malolos, Bulacan where the main celebration of World Day Against Child Labor will be held today.

He said the theme of the celebration, “Education is the right response to child labor,” underscores the importance of education as a major strategy in preventing and eliminating child labor.

“Child workers often find themselves forced to drop out of school in favor of working to supplement family income or simply support themselves, but this time, they have the chance for a better future,” he said.

To help the children sustain their schooling, Roque said the ABK2 project would provide resources and access to relevant education programs to beneficiaries.

Project activities would focus on reducing child workers’ barriers to attending formal school and expanding skills and business-based learning opportunities for children 15 to 17 years old.

DOLE would also connect the parents of the beneficiaries with its pro-poor programs, particularly those that provide wage and livelihood opportunities to improve their income.

The project would be implemented in areas where there is high incidence of child labor, such the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Leyte, Davao del Sur, and Compostela Valley.

“Educating children while providing their parents with income sources are the long-term solutions to break the bondage of poverty that ties child workers and their families to the cycle of child labor,” Roque said.