Sarah Geronimo and her mom Divine. Image: Facebook/Sarah Geronimo
A staff of Divine Geronimo, mother of singer-actress Sarah Geronimo, came to her defense following the labor violation allegations made by a former worker, who already filed a complaint against her under the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).
Ogie Diaz and his showbiz vlog co-host Loi Villarama who first made public the issue involving Sarah’s mom, showed a screenshot of the recent conversation they had with the complainant, through Diaz’s YouTube vlog on Monday, Dec. 19. They also provided a screenshot of the “Notice of Conference” addressed to John Grasher Merchandising Inc., the business owned by Divine.
The notice states that Divine was “ordered” to attend the conciliation conference scheduled on Jan. 5 and Jan. 12, 2023.
“Sabi niya, desidido siyang ilaban ito hanggang huli kasi kung hindi niya ito gagawin, baka maulit at maulit lang daw do’n sa mga current at future pang empleyado,” Villarama said, referring to Divine’s former employee.
(He said that he is determined to fight this until the end because if he wouldn’t do this, it might also happen to Divine’s current and future employees.)
Image: screengrab from YouTube/Ogie Diaz Showbiz Update
Image: screengrab from YouTube/Ogie Diaz Showbiz Update
Villarama then said that a current employee of Divine reached out to them through a phone call to explain their side on the issue. As per the employee, the complainant was a former family driver of the Geronimos who initially resigned then asked to be given a second chance at work, which the family supposedly granted.
Five months after the Geronimo family took him in again, the complainant allegedly left his job without proper notice, only leaving the vehicle keys and informing the Geronimos that he would just come back for his personal belongings. The former driver also allegedly had several violations that the family has on record.
Geronimo’s staff also belied the complainant’s claim that Divine withheld his last paycheck and belongings, saying that their employer only requested the complainant to personally get his belongings because he still has debts that he needed to pay.
The current employee then explained that the delayed distribution of salaries only happened when Divine was in their farm, noting that Divine notifies her employees beforehand if such is the case.
In Diaz’s earlier vlog, the complainant claimed that Divine does not provide her workers with overtime pay, double pay as well as statutory benefits; does not allow her employees to have rest days; delays the distribution of salaries; and holds employees’ salaries and personal belongings even when they are no longer under Divine’s employment.
Divine has yet to publicly speak for herself on the matter, as of this writing. EDV