OFW Who Tried to Stop Male Boss from Stabbing Wife Now Stable, Both Employers Dead – Baldoz
Singapore. FILE PHOTO BY JING GARCIA
MANILA – The overseas Filipino worker who was wounded by her male employer when she tried to intervene in a domestic dispute is now in a stable condition, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said in a news release Monday.
Citing a report from Philippine Labor Attache to Singapore Vicente M. Cabe, Baldoz said Jasmen Jamelaren Corpuz, a household service worker and a native of Iloilo City, has been working as an OFW for 12 years and had worked with her employer for six years prior to the stabbing incident on 30 January 2015 at her employer’s residence at Park View Mansion, Yuan Ching Road, Singapore.
“We visited Corpuz again at the National University Hospital. She is now in good condition and can stand already on her own. The wound on the left side of her neck had already healed, but the wounds in the upper part of her left arm had not yet healed,” Cabe said in his report.
Cabe said Corpuz’s doctor, Mikael Hartman, had informed him that Corpuz is now in a stable and safe condition, but need to stay for a few more days in the hospital for psychological counseling.
Corpuz told Cabe that on the morning of 30 January, when she came home after bringing the six-year-old son of her employer to school, she noticed that her employers, Mr. Ken Ong and his wife Ms. Koh Siang Hua, were fighting.
“I saw Mr. Ong holding a big knife and he was about to attack his wife,” said Corpuz. She tried to intervene, but was instead stabbed on the left neck and upper left arm.
Despite being wounded, Corpuz was able to flee and seek the help of the family gardener who called the police.
Corpuz and her employers were taken to Singapore’s National University Hospital where she was operated on. However, her employers were declared dead on arrival.
Cabe, in his report, said that Corpuz has expressed her desire to accept the offer of the family of her late employer to continue taking care of the six-year-old son, or if possible, find a new employer and continue working in Singapore.
“Change of employer is allowed in Singapore as long as it is the decision of the worker herself,” Cabe said.
The labor attache added that the Jurong Police Station is still investigating the case. He said his office has offered Corpuz to stay at the Migrant Workers and Other Filipino Resource Center while recovering from her injury.