Man now caressing bars after fondling girls

A male employer, separated from his wife, who has the habit of "touching" his housemaids, now caresses the cold steel bars of a detention cell instead.

Four young girls who were recruited from a northern Luzon province to work as maids, have filed charges of child abuse and molestation.

The girls, aged 15 to 19 and natives of Isabela province, accused Eduardo Figuerres, 49, of 1068 Dos Castillas st., Sampaloc of maltreatment and acts of lasciviousness.

In a complaint filed with SPO1 Jessie Oliveros of the Sampaloc police station, the complainants alleged Figuerres would mash their breasts and touch their buttocks everytime they were alone with him.

The girls said they could not resist their employer’s advances after they were threatened with death.

Aside from the threats, they also said that those who attempted to resist would not be given food all day. They said they were padlocked in a room whenever Figuerres went out of the house.

A 17-year-old complainant said Figuerres once forced her to drink "patis" when she made the mistake of making a dish too salty.

According to the girls, they were able to reveal their ordeal only when a sister of one their companions visited them.

The sister in turn sought the assistance of Inspector Enrique Pegalan, chief of the Ramon Magsaysay police community precinct, who rescued the four girls. Figuerres was also arrested.

In his detention cell, Figuerres, a law graduate, vehemently denied the girls’ accusation and claimed the charges were all fabricated.

He said only two of the complainants were employed by him while the other two were their relatives who stayed in his residence while looking for jobs.

He denied the sexual allegations and said they were just trumped up charges to "harass" him. – Nestor Etolle