An overseas Filipino worker is fighting for her life after she being diagnosed with stage III cervical cancer.
Baby Jane Allas, a 38-year-old domestic helper in Hong Kong, was diagnosed with the said disease in January and was terminated from her job less than a month after, reported Coconuts Manila.
According to Jessica Cutrera Papadopoulos, employer of Allas’ sister, the OFW was fired from her job after it was discovered that she has cervical cancer.
“Given your medical conditions, I am no longer able to continue your employment effective from 19 February 2019. Wish you good health,” Allas’ employer said in the termination letter.
Allas initially refused to sign the termination letter but her employer allegedly confiscated her copy of her contract, her medical receipts, and her referral letter from Tuen Mun Hospital, which became the cause of the delay of an MRI needed before chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Because of this, her condition became worse and hospital bills became more costly.
Allas then filed a complaint at the Labour Department because of her immediate termination saying that it was unlawful since she was fired while on paid sick leave, and that employers should not discriminate against someone with a disability..
She also added in the complaint that her employer did not allow her to take days off and would even starve her at times.
“Baby Jane did not wish to pursue claims against her employer – she simply wanted to continue her hard work and finish her contract in Hong Kong so that she had a chance of moving to a new employer [who] would treat her better,” Papadopoulos said.
Because she is no longer employed, Allas lost access to free health care, and she is not allowed to accept new employment contracts because of her condition.
As a way to help the OFW, Papadopoulos tried to set up a GoGetFunding page which seeks to collect HK$650,000 (about P4.3 million) to fund her treatment and to support her children back home.
Hundreds of kind-hearted netizens started to reach out to Allas and donate money for her medical treatment.
As of press time, her GoGetFunding page has over HK$282,000 which is nearly half of their goal.
