By Roy C. Mabasa
The Department of Foreign Affairs is closely coordinating with authorities in Saudi Arabia on the case of an overseas Filipino worker who remains in serious condition in a hospital after her employer allegedly forced her to drink household bleach.
The DFA said the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is closely monitoring the condition of Agnes Mancilla, a household service worker, who remains in serious but stable condition at the King Fahad Central Hospital in Jizan in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
Mancilla was rushed unconscious by concerned members of the Filipino community to the Jizan King Fahd Central Hospital on April 2 after her lady employer allegedly forced her to ingest household bleach.
She underwent laparotomy – a surgical incision into the abdominal cavity, for diagnosis or in preparation for surgery – immediately after she was taken to the hospital to flush out the bleach from her stomach. Doctors also found burn marks on her back.
The DFA said consulate officials also visited Mancilla and made representations with authorities in Jizan to make sure appropriate charges were filed against her employer who was later arrested by police.
It added that the consulate general has also requested the assistance of the Filipino community in Jizan in monitoring the condition of Mancilla.
Mancilla has been working in Saudi Arabia since 2016 but was repeatedly physically abused by her lady employer and was not being paid her salary.