For the first time in Negros Oriental, the Commission on Human Rights is dealing with what it considers the gravest incident of torture, slavery, maltreatment, inhuman and degrading acts, allegedly committed against  househelpers in Bacong town.

CHR special investigator Jess Cañete is looking into the complaint against Shiela Marie Cielo-Alfanta and her husband, Regan, of Barangay Sulodpan, Bacong.

Cañete is also looking into the involvement of a government agency that one of the victims claimed had booked him against his will, handcuffed, and forced him to sign documents, finger printed and photographed him.

The four victims were Roel Austero, 28, single, resident of Buntis, Bacong and three minors. Austero was rescued led by Barangay Captain Monico Tindac. The minors were rescued later by the CHR headed by Cañete from the residence of the Alfantas in Sulodpan, Bacong.

The four claimed that every time one commits a minor offense or infraction, everybody gets punished by either being struck with a baseball bat, or having hot water poured on them, forced to swallow laundry soap, made to drink alcohol, ordered to eat raw cassava, among others.

Austero told the CHR that once he was hit with a claw hammer in the head by Sheila Alfanta and his face slashed with an opened can of sardines when household chores were not properly executed.  Sometimes, his arms were stabbed with needles, he added.

He also said he was once shot with an air gun and the pellets pierced his left leg and the right leg. He was not brought to the hospital, he said.

The three minors, all 17 years old, claimed they were ordered by Shiela to fight against each other while being video-taped with a cellphone. The trio also accused her of choking and one claimed P10,000 was planted in her pocket and this was video-taped, and one being “caught” with the jewelry box of Shiela Alfanta in her possession. 

One minor claimed that, twice she was ordered to go naked in front of the couple who watched and laughed at her. Two of the minors claimed their breasts were squeezed by Shiela Alfanta for not doing household chores correctly.

The victims also claimed that they get to bed at 1 to 2 a.m. and have to wake up at 4 a.m. The four of them sleep in an open garage with empty sacks as mattresses, and when it rains they all get wet. Their food is only ground corn, or “tik-tik”, with only salt for viand. They also claim they have not received their salaries for several months.

Medical examinations of the victims showed scars, dried abrasions, and multiple contusions in their bodies as shown in certifications issued by the municipal health officer and rural health doctor. When rescued, the four were noted to be pale, weak, exhausted, frightened, and could hardly talk.

After taking their affidavits, Cañete recommended that the complaint be filed immediately before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, without asking the respondents to answer the allegations against them anymore. The minors are now in the custody of the Social Welfare Office.*JG

back to top