MIgrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople (File photo by RICHARD A. REYES / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople on Wednesday urged Congress to amend Republic Act No. 7877, or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, to cover overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who fall prey to Filipino employers overseas.
Ople told senators in a hearing that Congress should take steps to make Filipino employers accountable even if the crime is committed abroad.
She cited the case of a now retired ambassador who took an OFW from an embassy shelter abroad in Kuwait only to harass her.
The ambassador was only fined. Ople made the call as she presented the legislative agenda of the Department of Migrant Workers which will only be operational next year.
—MELVIN GASCON AND DONA PAZZIBUGAN
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