We’ve heard countless stories of cruel employers abusing helpless kasambahays. But did you know that there are also many good employers who are at the receiving end of this abuse? So many stories of employers who had unpleasant experiences with their hired house staff go around in forums and the stories range from bad to downright shocking and horrible.

These days it doesn’t even matter if the yaya is someone you barely know or a distant relative, seems like anyone is capable of anything. Here are five true stories of employers who experienced the stuff of mommy nightmares.

 

Inside Job

Our helper alerted us about the other yaya who had been drawing the floor plan of our house.  The yaya said it was just a hobby but the other helper told us that this yaya had an ex-convict boyfriend who was planning to rob our house. The helper showed us the sketches and I got goose bumps upon seeing the drawings. It was very detailed and complete with the entrances, the doors, and windows. We ended up letting her go. —Maita, 33, Makati

 

Voodoo

We had a yaya who promised to pay off the fare we spent so she could come here from the province. She also asked to get her one month salary in advance. But only after one week of working for us, she told me she was going to have her day off so she left in the morning. By night time she didn’t come back and I couldn’t reach her anymore. So she basically ran off with the money and our cellphone.

That time it was just me at home because my husband was out of the country. I went to check the bag that she left behind and what scared me was what I found inside. It had weird stuff—basahan, newspapers, a number of knives, and a plastic bag filled with hair, which I was pretty sure were from different people. —Marianne, 40, Manila

Cyber Show

Every day, we would leave our son at home with his yaya. We also leave a smartphone with the maid for emergency use. One time, I decided to check the photos and videos folder to see what my son has been doing. I was shocked to see not-so-wholesome photos of his nanny. And there was even a video!

In the video, the said nanny was lying on our bed while shooting a video of herself. Then she stood up on top of our bed, put the phone on the window sill, and continued shooting her video with our room in the background while dancing erotically and touching herself. All these were happening while my son was knocking on the locked door of our room and crying.

I was so angry because I felt that she disrespected us by lying on our bed. More so because I felt that our privacy was violated since she shot the video with our bedroom in the background. Add to that the fact that the video was not wholesome at all. I later found out that she lied to us about working as a nanny prior to working for us. She was a GRO who couldn’t let go of her old ways. —Shem, 32, Cabuyao

Sick Psycho

My son had weird markings  (which looked like bruises) on his hand and since he was only two years old back then he couldn’t tell me where they came from. I installed CCTV cameras in our condo with an embedded microphone to find out what’s happening while we’re at work. One time, I got home to my son running a fever. He was pointing at his ears which were so red. I reviewed the CCTV footage for that day and to my horror I saw his yaya Cristelyn Sampiano dragging my son forcefully clasping him by the arm from the room to the sala.

Some clips showed her pinching my child’s nose and threatening to cut his genitals. She was force-feeding my child, screaming at him. One of the footages showed her dragging my son by the neck and forcing him to drink water. Another footage showed her shaking my son violently forcing him to eat. Another video showed my son throwing up and the yaya forcing him to swallow his vomit. “Swallow mo yan!” she screamed. The yaya ran away and is now in hiding because she’s already wanted by the police. We shared her story to a few news programs to warn other parents not to hire her. —Anna, 33, Pasig

 

Taken

Nora, our yaya, went out to fetch my then five-year-old daughter from school. She told my daughter that they were going to meet up with me at Jollibee so my daughter went with her and got on a tricycle. That afternoon, my mom who was waiting at home started to worry because she couldn’t contact Nora anymore. Upon checking we found out that she also took our jewelry and money. We contacted the police who did an investigation. It took them more than a week to get information about the yaya and my child’s whereabouts.

A witness called the police to inform them of suspicious new tenants who brought with them a girl who was obviously not their child. My daughter was kept in a room with an open window through which the neighbor got to talk to her. This is how the witness found out that she’s been kidnapped. She was in her school uniform the entire time and was not allowed to go out of the room.

My husband went with the NBI to rescue my child. Had they been too late my daughter would have probably been sold by Nora and her boyfriend. She apparently was pregnant and needed money for her child. —Patricia, 63, Rizal