Police Executive Master Sergeant Maria Eliza Palabay was fired as head of Police Community Relations of the Mamburao Municipal Police Office after being implicated in the complaint filed in relation to the abuse of maid Elvie Vergara that led to her blindness.
Palabay was among those who filed Elvie’s formal complaint with the fiscal after he was allegedly threatened when he reported the abuse he was suffering at the hands of her employers.
Palabay initially denied the allegation. But the victim insisted she remembered Palabay’s appearance when threatened because she could still see.
“Dinuduro-duro nya ako tinaasan pa nya ako ng boses, sabi niya kapag inulit mo pa yun dadamputin na talaga kita sabi sa akin ng matabang babae na si Mam Liza,” said Elvie.
In a telephone interview, Occidental Mindoro Police Provincial Director, Col. Jun Dexter Danao, Palabay will stay at the Provincial Police Headquarters first to avoid influencing the investigation.
“Ilipat ko muna siya from Mamburao dadalhin ko muna siya dito sa provincial headquarters…habang tumatakbo ang imbestigasyon diyan,” said Danao.
The victim’s lawyer, Atty Jovito Gambol, said making Barangay Chairman Jimmy Patal a witness is possible.
Police involved in case of mistreated maid in Mindoro fired
Patal’s information is said to be important because he was the one who saw in the year 2021 when Elvie escaped from the hands of the bosses and ran to the Barangay Hall.
It is said that Patal also witnessed when the boss took Elvie, who promised to bring her home to the family.
“Mas maganda siguro si kapitan na magwitness, sabihin nya yung alam nya, hindi naman natin siya pinagsisinungaling para malaman ang katotohanan,” said Gambol.
Meanwhile, Senator Francis Tolentino is asking the lawyers of the Philippine Legal Justice Center to focus on obtaining damages for the victim, Elvie Vergara.
According to Atty Olivia Feliciano of the Philippine Legal Justice Center, apart from the criminal case against those who mistreated Elvie, the victim must also get compensation claims for the damages he suffered due to the abuse and the possible earnings he lost because he can no longer work.
Atty. Feliciano added even the wages that were not given to Elvie since she worked must also be given.
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