An overseas Filipino worker who served time in a Dubai jail on a forgery charge stays in detention after her former employer filed two more cases against her. The 38-year-old OFW, named only as Mirasol, has been in jail since Feb.10, 2008, according to Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona. The Filipina worked as an accountant for a Dubai firm for three years and renewed her contract in 2007 but was sued by her employer the following year for allegedly forging checks. Monterona said the OFW and her husband, who also works in Dubai, sought the assistance of the Philippine Consulate General but did not get help from the mission. In February 2008, a Shariah court sentenced her to six-month imprisonment and deportation. “But to her surprise, upon completion of her sentence, her employer had filed two separate civil cases, prompting the authorities to withhold her release,” Monterona said. Monterona said the first case was filed in August 2008 after Mirasol completed her sentence. The second case was filed on Oct. 20, 2008. Both cases are still pending. The Migrante official said the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai should provide legal assistance to Mirasol “so that she could be properly represented and defended in court, and eventually be released and repatriated.” The Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA), meanwhile, informed Mirasol's sister that a certain Ahmad Bajunaid had attended the OFW's hearing last Jan. 5, 2010. It said the OFW was ordered to pay 684,000 dirhams and was advised to get the services of a lawyer to accompany her on the next hearing in February. - ABS
