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For the past 21 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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New York --- Filipino nurses filed Friday a motion at Superior Court of Riverhead to dismiss the criminal cases against them, asserting that they had no official contract in the hospital facility in New York and their work contract was violated.
The nurses 27 nurses and a physical therapist were charged at the Suffolk County Courthouse with five counts of endangering the welfare of a child and six counts of endangering the welfare of a physically disabled person.
"There is no basis on the case. There was no abandonment of patients. There are grounds to dismiss the case, " said lawyer Emeritu Salud, who is helping the Filipino nurses through NAFCON group.
NAFCON, a nationwide coalition of Filipino-American organizations spanning 23 US cities said it wouldl work closely with the Sentosa 27 to help them meet their basic demands- including dropping of all criminal and civil charges against them in the State of New York, seeking compensation for all backwages including unpaid overtime wages, re-suspension of the Sentosa recruitment license by the POEA, and investigation by the State of New York on Sentosa Care LLC operations against existing anti-human trafficking law and the thirteenth amendment outlawing slavery.
Filipino nurses interviewed, earlier, complained that they were recruited to work for Sentosa on a contract, but ended up working with other nursing facilities. They complained of delayed pay, non payment of overtime and night differential, threats if they join a union and deception by the management. The management ignored their complaints.
The 27 nurses resigned en masse from Sentosa Care Group after few months on the job.
Mark de la Cruz, one of the nurses said his contract showed that he and other nurses had to work 40 hours, but the nursing facility cut back their hours to 35, that lessen their income. There was one week that De la Cruz was not paid for 35 hours work. When he complained, a supervisor of the facility slammed the door on his face.
Sentosa group allegedly witheld the green cards or permanent resident cards of the 27 nurses, their wage rate was greatly reduced, and backwages were not paid.
The nurses said there was no abandonment of work because their work shift had ended when they resigned.
Majority of nursing graduates in the Philippines opt to work abroad to seek for greener pasture , many work in nursing homes in the U.S. to serve the graying population of America.
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CHICAGO, Illinois (JGL) – California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed a Filipino American judge of a superior court in California.
The appointee, Efren N. Iglesia of Salinas, California, worked for the Monterey County Counsel’s office in 1983, where he is its current senior deputy counsel.
Judge Iglesia currently a senior deputy counsel for the Imperial C county Counsel’s Office from 1979 to 1983.
Previously an associate in the law firm Gendron & Gendron from 1976 to 1979, Iglesia earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the San Joaquin College of Law, a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fresno Pacific University and an Associate of Arts degree from Reedley College.
He fills one of the new positions created by Senate Bill 56. Iglesia, who is a Republican, was born in 1950 in Camalig, Albay in the Philippines. He attended Aquinas University, Legaspi City in 1971.
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TRENTON -- A Filipina from West Windsor , NJ pleaded guilty Thursday to forcing a young woman from the Philippines who came to the U.S. as a nanny to instead care for her ailing husband and do her housekeeping for two years.
The young woman’s passport and visa were confiscated by the employer and she was told not to leave the house without family members because she would be arrested. She was paid only a small fraction of what she was supposed to receive for coming to work in the U.S.
Angelita Reyes, 68, of Blanket Flower Lane, West Windsor, pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree criminal restraint before Superior Court Judge Maria Sypek. Reyes will be sentenced to probation but must pay the victim, Arlene Gado, 23, about $78,000 for her labor. That amount represents what Gado should have received under her employment contract.
Unable to bear the abuse any lobger, Gado called a relative in Michigan.
The relative then notified the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development in March. Upon hearing the story, the department turned the case over to the state Division of Criminal Justice. Gado, who was rescued from the Reyes household on May 2, is staying in a shelter, officials said.
Attorney General Anne Milgram noted that anyone with information about suspected human trafficking, forced labor or related crimes can call the Division of Criminal Justice at 1-866-TIPS-4CJ. Additionally, the public can log on to the Division of Criminal Justice Web page at www.njdcj.org to report suspected wrongdoing. All information received through the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Tipline or Web page will remain confidential.
With reports from Linda Stein
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