Following the arrest orders served by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile last week, the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms Jose Balajadia disclosed that they failed to arrest Analiza and Reynold Marzan, the couple accused of maltreating and abusing their household help Bonita Baran, at their home in Las Villas de Cielo, Visayas Avenue, Quezon City, according to a Philstar.com news report.
Barangay officials have told them that the couple has not been seen within the area after the news about them broke out. They have not been residing in their home for the past two months already, which indicated that they must have fled, and the electricity supply has also been discontinued as per owners’ request, Balajadia said.
The couple did not show up during the Senate probe which prompted Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada to issue arrest orders. Estrada is currently the chairman of the Senate committee on labor and employment.
It was the couple’s lawyer Jesus Fernandez, who represented them in the senate hearings and said that Baran’s wounds were self-inflicted, but Estrada thought of it as “unbelievable,” according to various news reports.
It was reported in several news sources that the couple received a hold departure order (HDO) last week from a Quezon City court which bars them from leaving the country.
Judge Germano Francisco Legaspi of the Regional Trial Court Branch 77 also denied the motion filed by Atty. Fernandez to lift the warrants of arrest against the accused couple, who are facing charges of illegal detention and serious physical injuries.
Allegedly, the wife had Baran’s face burnt with flat iron. Baran also said that she was detained by the couple in Visayas Avenue. She also complained of being punched several times by her boss, resulting to her blindness.
Meanwhile, a Kasambahay Bill is set to be discussed in the Bicameral Conference Committee, according to yesterday’s report from Saksi, a TV news program of GMA. The bill, authored by Congressman Emil Ong, aims to protect the rights of household helpers.
