The filing of multiple physical injuries charges for the alleged maltreatment of their male house helper in Bacong, Negros Oriental, was recommended by a government prosecutor against Regan Alfanta and Sheila Marie Cielo Alfanta, residents of Sulupdan in Bacong town.

Special investigator Jess Cañete of the Commission on Human Rights in Negros Oriental said yesterday that he received a copy of the resolution of Assistant Prosecutor Maritess Macarrubo Friday, recommending the filing of the information against the couple.

The charges include six counts of less serious physical injuries against the husband and wife, and one count of serious physical injury against Regan Alfanta, Cañete added.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Roel Austero, 28, of Bacong, who accused the Alfanta couple of manhandling him on separate occasions while he was in their employ.

Austero claimed to have been hit with a claw hammer on the head, struck with a baseball bat, forced to swallow laundry soap, and had his face slashed with a sardines can, then doused with hot water.

He was rescued from the Alfanta residence on November 24 by Bacong police, social workers and barangay officials who, accompanied by Cañete, returned to Suludpan the next day for their three minor female house helpers.

Cañete said the three, who were initially housed in a temporary shelter for “abused” victims in Dumaguete City, opted to withdraw the case against their employers after their parents reportedly settled amicably with the couple.

The information against the Alfantas is expected to be filed at the Bacong Municipal Trial Circuit Court, Cañete added.*JFP

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