Who is T.E.?

Volume 2, Issue 24 - June 17-23, 2011

International Tribune

She was promised a better life in the United States.  She worked seven days a week for only a measly fifty dollars per month for more than ten miserable years.  Her Philippine passport was taken away since arrival at her employee’s residence in Marlboro, Maryland.  In order to keep herself legal in the US, she was forced to fraudulently marry twice and the second one to the employer’s brother who suffered from dementia and diabetes, an additional responsibility to her already back-breaking 12-hour-a-day overwhelming domestic job.   Her life was threatened when she attempted to run away and escape from her servitude.   The nightmare list goes on and on in the United States versus Gloria Edwards and Alfred Edwards, Jr., of Maryland. 

Who is T.E.?  For her own protection, her real identity remains undisclosed.   We only know T.E. as a Filipina domestic servant who was lured by her fellow countrywoman, Gloria Edwards, to work for her and her husband, Alfred Edwards in 1999.  T.E. came from an impoverished family in the Philippines with a husband and eight children to support.  She is illiterate and was desperate for employment.  She risked everything and even paid her employers upfront the sum of $5,000 (a staggering amount in the Philippines) for her working papers to come to America.  With the hope that working in a foreign land away from her family – this is a good chance to lift herself out of poverty in the land of opportunity, a chance that comes knocking at one's door for some desperate Filipinos.

In November 2002, T.E. unsuccessfully escaped from her bondage with the Edwards.  She was eventually brought back by Alfred Edwards who threatened to shoot her and fine her for abandonment in the amount of $20,000 if she ever runs away again.  He also made sure to tell T.E. that he owns a gun at home and is capable of killing her.  To scare her even more, Alfred Edwards took out his frustration by beating his mentally ill brother when the latter talked back with his own fists in front of T.E.  It was his distorted way to assert his superiority over T.E.  Gloria Edwards followed suit by hitting, pinching, and poking T.E. with knives. 

When you think things could have already reached their lowest point, T.E. suffered more from the hands of her oppressors.  The brainwashing continued.  In August 2005, her precious green card was confiscated by the Edwardses.  Once again, she was warned that without possession of this document, she is an illegal alien, pure and simple, in this country.  Therefore, she must continue to be obedient no matter what it takes.  In August 2008, the mentally- and physically-challenged brother of Alfred Edwards died.  T.E. was sexually assaulted by Alfred who occasionally enjoyed fondling T.E.’s buttocks inside her underwear.

In October 2009, T.E. left the residence of the Edwardses.  She was called a shameless son- of- a- bitch, a snake, a cobra, a beast, an idiot and a liar by Gloria Edwards.  Alfred Edwards threatened her life once again, and said that she would be ‘done’ if she refuses to return. 

T.E. fortunately never returned to the evil Edwards residence.  On June 6, 2011, T.E.’s case was taken to the United States District Court of Maryland with the defendants, Gloria and Alfred Edwards, Jr. charged with five criminal counts, including forced labor, documented servitude and harboring domestic worker for financial gains.  T.E. won the court battle to free herself from the atrocious custody of the couple who maliciously conspired to rob T.E.’s self dignity forever. 

The plight of the Filipinos in search of better life in foreign lands is colorful, brave, and oftentimes heroic.  Along my journey in the far corners of the globe, I have met many Filipinos who have successfully immersed themselves in different exotic cultures that are very far from their own. The diaspora is from Filipinos of different backgrounds- nurses, doctors, engineers, construction workers, domestic workers, and etc…  Their stories are beautiful, inspiring, and something to be truly proud of.  It is heartbreaking when you discover stories such as T.E.'s- who was duped by her own fellow Filipina.  This kind of stories must be exposed and brought to light to send a resounding message to future copycats - that there must be an end to exploitation. Not only is this human trafficking but this clearly is a case of modern-day slavery in America.  One would think that this kind of scenario has vanished forever in the land of the free.