Palace welcomes surrender of Demafelis’ recruiter

March 1, 2018

Malacanang welcomed on Thursday the decision of the recruiter of slain domestic worker Joanna Demafelis to surrender to the authorities.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said if Agnes Tuballes did not show up to the  Criminal Investigation and Detection Group office, she could be arrested.

He said it was President Rodrigo Duterte's order to arrest Demafelis' Filipino recruiter if she would not show up to shed light on the household helper's case.

"We are happy that she surrendered and spared the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) from conducting a manhunt for her. There will be many questions that she has to answer, (such as) who was supposedly (Demafelis') real employer," he said.

He said there seemed to have been a switching of employers which was not reported to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Demafelis, who was reported missing last year, was found dead last month inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.

Tuballes told reporters in Camp Crame she denied any wrongdoing in the death of Demafelis. "I helped her (find a job in Kuwait) but I did not expect that this would end up this way," Tuballes said.

Tuballes said she referred Demafelis to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Global E-Human Resources Inc. which processed her papers in 2013. But Demafelis did not end up working for the employer as promised by the contact of Tuballes. Celerina Monte/DMS