An eternity for innocent housemaid

AFTER three long and  agonizing years, Liezl Tomanquez, a 26-year-old housemaid, was released from prison recently.

Liezl was charged with qualified theft by her former employer, Azucena Go of Valenzuela City, who suspected her of stealing P1.7 million in cash and jewelry.

Yes, Liezl got the money and jewelry from her employer’s bedroom, but only because the “probinsyana”  from Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte, thought she was trying to save Go’s life.

Had Liezl known better or been wise to the ways of criminals in the Big City, she wouldn’t have fallen prey to the “dugo-dugo” scam which victimizes gullible household maids or houseboys.

In the modus operandi, somebody who mimics the voice of the household employer tells the maid or houseboy who answers the phone that he or she had an accident and was rushed to a hospital, and money was needed for an immediate operation.

The voice then orders the househelp to force open the bedroom and get money or jewelry from a drawer or jewelry box.

The person at the other end instructs the househelp to pry open all the locked drawers where the valuables are kept when the domestic can’t immediately find the jewelry or cash.

After the cash or valuables are found, the voice tells the househelp to meet somebody at a certain place and “entrust” the money or jewelry to him.

Most of the victims thought they were talking to their employer.

Liezl had been in the Go household only for three months. When  answered the phone, she thought she was talking to the woman of the house.

Liezl even instructed a fellow household help to give her a screw driver so she could destroy a locked drawer.

She was instructed by the “employer” to meet a woman outside a bank near their house and hand her the cash and jewelry.

The Zamboanga del Norte housemaid was  surprised when her employer came home that night without a scratch since the voice said she was critically injured in an accident.

May this  story serve as a lesson so other households that employ domestic help won’t become victims to the same modus operandi.

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Merlita Tomanquez, 63, came to my “Isumbong mo kay Tulfo” office at radio dwIZ (882 khz) on May 21, 2012, and tearfully told us about her daughter’s plight.

Liezl had been at the Valenzuela City Jail for one  week when a member of my staff, Alin Ferrer, paid her a visit.

Alin’s assessment of Liezl was that she was very gullible, being a girl newly-arrived from the province  and thus a stranger to the ways of the city.

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“Isumbong” approached Amer Macapundag of the Zuniega, Olaso, Macapundag and Salvador law offices to defend the poor girl in court.

Macapundag accepted Liezl’s case with alacrity as he had done so with other cases of poor litigants in the past—pro bono or without a professional fee—after “Isumbong” referred Liezl’s case to him.

A graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law Class 1995, Macapundag is an expert trial lawyer and has won many court battles.

His primary argument in Liezl’s defense is that she could not have been a member of the syndicate because she remained in the household after the incident.

Her expression of surprise was genuine when she saw that Mrs. Go didn’t suffer injuries, the lawyer said.

Liezl was not capable of pretending to be  surprised, given her simple and naive nature, according to Macapundag.

Valenzuela Judge Nena Santos acquitted Liezl based on the defense lawyer’s argument.

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Liezl’s long court trial is a sad commentary on our justice system.

The poor girl from Zamboanga del Norte  staid  in jail for three long years before she was found innocent.

Three years is an eternity for an accused person who is innocent.