By Alec Go
Nine Filipinos who were victimized by online and sex trafficking syndicates in Thailand and Malaysia were rescued and repatriated earlier this month, the Bureau of Immigration said Thursday, May 18.
The victims from Malaysia were repatriated on May 9, while those from Indonesia were brought home on May 11.
“Like other cases of human trafficking in the Southeast Asian region, the victims were transported to Mae Sot City, Myanmar to be forced to work in online love scams and crypto rings,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.
The trafficking victims in Thailand left the Philippines in the last quarter of 2022 after they were hired by strangers on Facebook, and were promised to work in customer service with salaries of P40,000 to P60,000.
However, they were subjected to physical torture for not meeting their quota when they were deployed. They were also detained pending their ransom payments.
“We always hear the stories of our repatriated kababayans – each story worse after the other… One of them shared how their parents had to sell their farm land to produce a large-sum of money just to be given to those criminals,” Tansingco said.
Meanwhile, the three trafficking victims in Malaysia were ferried by a boat through Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi in the last quarter of 2022. They said their recruiter facilitated their departure and skipped ports’ inspections.
They were told to work as massage therapists in Miri, but were forced to work in sex parlors for extra services with rest days only during their monthly period.
According to the victims, they were also made to clean police station restrooms and endured verbal abuse after they were rescued by Malaysian authorities.
They were only repatriated when they contacted the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. – cf
