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NEW YORK – The nurse who accused a diplomat’s family of human trafficking is seeking an unspecified amount in unpaid wages as well as a public apology from Ambassador Lauro Baja, his wife Norma and daughter Elizabeth Facundo.

“I cooked, took care of the (grand)child, cleaned the really big house, did the laundry, ironed and did other tasks like a domestic worker,” Marichu Suarez Baoanan, 39, said in a press conference. “In turn they paid me with curses, insults, disrespect and a hundred dollars from Beth (the ambassador’s daughter). I call this experience oppression, slavery.”

Lawyers for Baoanan said the exact amount has yet to be determined but would be based on New York minimum wage law of at least $6.75 per hour.

Baoanan, who filed a civil case of human trafficking – among a dozen charges — against the Bajas, said she was paid only $100 (more than Php 4,500) for the three months she was employed as a house help by the family of the former Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The case is filed with the Southern District Court of New York under Judge Victor Marrero.

‘A culture of fear’

Before reporters, Baoanan tearfully recounted how she suffered at the hands of the Bajas, especially the ambassador’s wife Norma who promised to find her employment as a nurse.

Baoanan said she was made to work at least 18 hours a day, seven days a week, with no days off from January 13, 2006 to April 13, 2006.She would stop her narration, dabbing at tears with the back of her hand.

“I experienced a lot of hardship from the Bajas. Ma’am Norma and Sir Lauro are powerful people. I did not have hope to escape. I thought about committing suicide because I was so depressed. I couldn’t even send money for my family’s food.”

Baoanan said she was the only house help in a huge townhouse on the Upper East Side where the three accused and the ambassador’s young grandson lived.

The townhouse, which once belonged to former First Lady Imelda Marcos, has four floors, including a basement, at least a dozen rooms, a huge receiving room, a kitchen and a ballroom.

“They really abused me. I haven’t even recovered from the previous day’s exhaustion and already someone was waking me up,” Baoanan said, speaking in Tagalog.

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She also recounted how every time she reminded Norma about her promise of job placement, her employer would curse at her. “Mimumura ako palagi ni Norma, iyan ang napakasakit sa akin (I’m really hurt when Norma frequently curses me),” Baoanan said. “When I came here in January, it was too cold. She didn’t give me a jacket and she wouldn’t give me a pair of shoes when I asked.”

As for the diplomat, she said Lauro was witness to how his grandson hit her back with a broom, but did nothing to stop it or discipline the child.“There was a culture of fear,” said lawyer Ivy Suriyopas of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), who is one of Baoanan’s attorneys. She said Baoanan was prevented from using a phone or leaving the house by herself. “This is a story about deception, extortion and coercion.”

Baoanan, a Nursing graduate from Unciano Medical College, is currently in the U.S. on a T Visa. A T Visa allows victims of human trafficking to stay in the country for three years, making them eligible to apply for a green card, said Suriyopas. “Under the T Visa, she was also able to apply for a derivative visa for her family, and Marichu was reunited with her family this April,” she added. Baoanan is currently working as a caregiver for a family.

Baoanan said she escaped the household with the help of a “good Samaritan.” This person, whom she did not identify, put her in touch with the Damayan Migrant Workers Association, which contacted AALDEF. Together, Damayan and AALDEF contacted federal authorities with Baoanan’s cooperation.

A maid and a diplomat

Initially, a criminal complaint was filed against Baja, but this was dismissed.

The lawyers would not provide the reason for the dismissal. After the press conference, lawyer Salvador Tuy, who is representing the Bajas, showed reporters photos of Baoanan wearing a winter coat and playing with the grandson in the snow.

“This belies her claim that she was not given a jacket,” he said.

He added Baoanan was given a cell phone for her use and she could easily have used it to call 9-11 if, indeed, there was trafficking being committed. Tuy said the criminal case was dismissed “upon review of the facts, it was determined that there was no trafficking.”

He said Baoanan’s employment is simply a “contract between a maid and a diplomat.” When she escaped, Tuy said, Baja had no choice but to notify the U.S. State Department that a house help holding a diplomatic visa is no longer working for him.

“That’s the reason she filed the trafficking case,” declared Tuy. “She wanted to get a T Visa.”

Both sides voiced confidence they have sufficient evidence to win the case. Suriyopas said, “We have evidence to support our claims. We believe we have a strong case.”

Aaron Mendelsohn, another lawyer for Baoanan, refused to discuss details of having Baja extradited to the U.S., saying, “We don’t want to discuss all our legal strategies.”

In any case, the lawyers said the Bajas have a travel agency in New York, and daughter Elizabeth is currently employed with the United Nations.

For his part, Tuy said he is confident of winning, and when that happens they will ask Baoanan for monetary damages for maligning a public official. Baja currently works as foreign affairs consultant for the Philippine Senate. “You’re talking here about the Dean of Philippine Diplomacy, the most known Filipino diplomat next to Carlos P. Romulo,” he said.

The Philippine Mission to the UN is slated to host this October a global forum on migration focusing on the protection of migrants, according to a statement. The meeting will be presided by Baja’s successor Ambassador Hilario Davide Jr.

Baoanan’s lawyers refused to speculate if the case would have an impact on the meeting. - Cristina DC Pastor, Philippine News