Jocelyn Dulnuan murder case: Still waiting for Justice

Jocelyn Dulnuan murder case: Still waiting for Justice

To date the family of Jocelyn Dulnuan and the community has yet to see justice in the death of Jocelyn. On 1 October 2007 , Jocelyn Dulnuan, a 27-year old Filipina live-in caregiver, was killed in her employer’s 15-million dollar Mississauga mansion. Two months after her death, two men were arrested and charged with first degree murder.

Jocelyn came to Canada under the Live-In Caregiver Program, a federal government program that allows Filipinas to come as caregivers. In this program, she was required to live in her employer’s residence. “This condition brings about vulnerability to physical, sexual, and verbal abuse,” said Sol Pajadura of the Independent Workers Association.

It is estimated that 13,000 caregivers came in to Canada under the LCP in the past year. The program requires Filipino women to live in the homes of their employers for a 24-month period to perform domestic and care giving work. The Philippines is the second largest exporter of people in the world and pushes more than 3,000 daily to seek employment overseas. Migrante International, a global alliance of Filipino migrant organizations, says that eight Filipinos return to the Philippines dead everyday. Over 90% of all live-in caregivers in Canada are from the Philippines .

When sought for help, the Consular officials at the Philippine Consulate in Toronto claimed that they did not have funds to repatriate Jocelyn’s remains and Jocelyn was an unregistered worker. It was through the pressure of the Filipino community in coordination with Migrante International in the Philippines that the Department of Foreign Affairs was pushed to repatriate Jocelyn’s remains. (The Consulate contributed $5,000 for Dulnuan’s repatriation – Ed.)

Marco Luciano of Migrante Ontario said “the Philippine government under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo must perform its duty of providing assistance and addressing the plight of thousands of overseas Filipino workers in foreign countries like Canada . These migrant workers have been sending close to $14billion per year to keep the Philippine economy afloat.”

“Later this month Arroyo’s government will host in Manila the Global Forum on Migration and Development that will supposedly address the issues of migrants, but it would likely be a marketplace to buy and sell migrants to the highest bidder,” Luciano added.

Migrante International chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado said the Arroyo government must ensure that Jocelyn’s killers are brought to justice. “All legal and diplomatic avenues should be exerted so that her death does not become another statistic in a list of unsolved murder cases.”

Migrante International records show there are at least 23 cases of unsolved murders against Filipinos abroad since 2002. Most of these involved domestic workers who often toil in isolated and very vulnerable conditions.

A hearing on the murder of Jocelyn is slated in November and Jocelyn’s family and the community continue to wait for justice. “We cannot allow the murder of Jocelyn Dulnuan to fade away. We will continue to seek justice for her,” said Jonathan Canchela, chairperson of Filipino Migrant Workers’ Movement.

“All those responsible for Jocelyn’s death must be prosecuted – that includes Philippine government officials who are possibly guilty of criminal neglect when addressing the cases of victimized migrant workers,” Canchela added.

Filipino Migrant Workers’ Movement (FMWM)
A member of Migrante-Ontario

(PRESS RELEASE)