Philippine government tracks sister of 83-year-old maid enslaved in US

Washington - She worked without any salary for nearly four decades.

The elder sister of Fedelina Lugasan, the 83-year-old Filipina who was forced to do domestic work for a family in the US without any pay for nearly four decades, has been tracked down in Leyte province by Philippine officials, Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez has said.
The Philippine government will assist Lugasan's sister in getting a passport and applying for a visa so she can fly to the US to reunite with her long-missing family member, Romualdez was quoted as saying by GMA News Online.
"A niece actually came forward and they were able to cross check it and I was informed that Nanay Fedelina has a sister, an older sister, who's still alive and she lives in Leyte," Romualdez told reporters.
Lugasan, fondly called Nanay Fedelina, was able to chat with her sister via Skype, the report added.
"So they were asking if we could help in getting a visa for the sister because it's easier for her to come and visit rather than Fedelina go back this time since she is still waiting for the visa, the T Visa, the trafficking visa," Romualdez said.
"So we're going to try our best to expedite, to help her get her passport and then assist her in getting a US visa to visit her sister."
When she was 16, Nanay Fedelina started working as a domestic help for a Filipino family in Manila. In 1980, 28-year-old Fedelina was brought to the US and subjected to domestic servitude for almost 40 years, while being denied salary as well as any rest days. The US authorities rescued her in 2018.

• Philippines