At the end of a working day, Juanito Go would leave his “factory,” actually a two-story house he was renting in Pasay City, and have the gates locked from inside by his all-female workers—who were all barred from going out during the night.
The workers would then throw the key over the gate to give it back to Go. The next morning, he would toss it back to them to have the gates opened— and start another day in a workplace that paid only P2,500 to P3,000 a month per employee, imposed 12-hour shifts, and allowed only four days off a year.
Such labor practices were finally exposed, in a most horrible fashion, when eight of his workers “locked up” nightly inside the house died in a five-hour fire early Friday.
The 68-year-old Chinese, along with his son-in-law Joey Cabrera, the property manager, is facing multiple charges not just for the deaths and injuries but also for illegal business operations.
The fire that gutted the house inside a compound on P. Samonte Street, Barangay 47, killed “stay-in workers” Floralyn Balucos, 20; Maricris Calumba, 21; Heidi Ib-Ib, 24; Lorena Ib-Ib, 21; Jelsa Saburiga, 19; Renelyn de Bagui, 21; Angelyn Quillano, 21; and Sheila Lyn Habagat, 19.
An initial investigation showed that they died of suffocation inside their room on the second floor. Eight other female workers managed to escape by forcing their way through a small opening on the wall that was meant for an air-conditioning unit.
Go and Cabrera face charges of negligence resulting in multiple homicide and physical injuries, according to Chief Insp. Joey Goforth of the Pasay City police.
The first floor of the house apparently served as a storage space and makeshift workshop where DVD players, cell phones and watches were repaired, Goforth noted.
But the officer said the compound was registered only as a residential area, making Go and Cabrera also liable for operating without a business permit.
The police are also considering filing a complaint for violation of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act, as some of the workers were reported to be minors.
In an interview, Barangay 47 chair Grace Corpus quoted the fire survivors as saying that they were all locked up in the house when the fire struck. “According to the young women, all the doors were locked. Even the main gate, and the warehouse on the ground floor,” Corpus said.
The workers discovered the fire at 12:45 a.m. when one of them got up to use the toilet. “She rushed back to wake up her coworkers, but they had no way out. All the doors they tried were locked.”
The windows were reinforced with iron grills and the house had no fire exits, Goforth said.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, said Pasay fire bureau chief Douglas Guiyab.
Corpus said it wasn’t the first time the young women had complained of being held up inside the compound. She recalled that Go had been renting the house for two years now, but it was only last year—when a worker asked for barangay assistance to be able to go home to her province—that Corpus learned that it was being used for business.
The worker complained that Go refused to let her leave. In April, a group of workers also aired similar complaints.
Most of fatalities were recruited by Go from Tayasan town in Negros Oriental province, according to Habagat’s aunt, Merejean Tubio.
A survivor, Irene Acuña, said Go would leave the place at the end of the day and order the gates to be locked from inside. The workers would then throw the key over to Go. Returning the next day, Go would throw the key back in so they could open the gates.
Corpus described the dismal work conditions: The women were paid only P2,500 to P3,000 a month, allowed only four days off a year, and forced to work 12 hours a day.
“They couldn’t even take days off individually. They would be taken out in a van, like in a field trip,” the barangay chair said.
Asked why her niece had agreed to such treatment, Tubio explained: “She’s just that hard-up. She wanted to resume her studies. She would have been in her second year in high school.”
Despite her family’s objections, Habagat joined her friends and neighbors when they were recruited by Go in Negros Oriental, Tubio recalled. “We just want [Go] to take responsibility for what happened.”
Go, who was placed under police custody on Friday, remained tightlipped on the charges he was facing.
His lawyer, Glenn Cabañez, noted that no formal charges had been lodged yet but said his client was already “helping the victims with their hospitalization.”