MANILA, Philippines – Lawyers, social workers and women’s groups Tuesday denounced the alleged efforts of former actress Princess Revilla, Rebecca Bautista-Ocampo in real life, to force her 17-year-old housemaid to withdraw criminal cases that had been filed against her.

The victim, a native of Samar province, earlier filed several cases against Ocampo, younger sister of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., who, she claimed, maltreated her.

The maid was later able to escape from Ocampo’s house in Valle Verde, Barangay Ugong in Pasig City.

Among the charges the victim filed against Ocampo were physical injuries and violation of Republic Act 7610 (Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act) and the antichild labor law.

Irene Alogoc, one of the victim’s volunteer lawyers, told a press conference Tuesday that her client’s mother and aunt suddenly showed up during the preliminary investigation at the Pasig City Prosecutor’s Office last week and tried to convince her to retract her affidavit.

Alogoc said the victim’s mother repeatedly asked her daughter “to just go home to Samar and forget about the case.”

She added that the mother likewise tried to take away her daughter from the social workers who had been taking care of her since she escaped from Revilla’s house.

“The girl was very determined to pursue the case. She told her mother she would not return to their province until her legal battle is over,” Alogoc said.

She also criticized Ocampo’s camp for allegedly feeding the wrong information to media to discredit those who are helping the victim, including the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Eva Lawas, a social worker, said they were puzzled by the presence of the victim’s relatives during the preliminary hearing.

She added that they were surprised when they learned that the victim’s mother, sister and two aunts had flown in from Samar just to attend the scheduled hearing last July 14.

Lawas said the four are now staying at a hotel in Pasay City.

“Even the victim was puzzled by her mother’s attendance at the hearing. How could her mother afford to buy plane tickets and stay in a hotel when they couldn’t even buy a kilo of rice?” she told the Inquirer.

Lawas, however, declined to comment when asked if Ocampo could have contacted the victim’s mother and paid for her plane fare.

“I don’t want to speculate. But the girl said she was sure her mother had already received a big sum of money from [Ocampo],” she said.

Meanwhile, Gabriela, a militant women’s organization, has thrown its support behind the victim. Emmi de Jesus, Gabriela secretary general, said they received a handwritten letter from the victim asking for their assistance.

De Jesus said the victim’s experience mirrored the plight of more than 140,000 underage housemaids and child workers in the country.

Raymond Fortun, Ocampo’s lawyer, said he found the allegations against his client “bewildering.” He added that he was not aware of any moves to influence the complainant, stressing that Revilla had nothing to do with the injuries the victim sustained.