RP women fall prey to white slavery in Malaysian state

Updated 10:19pm (Mla time) Sept 17, 2004
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A19 of the September 18, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines -- Negros officials have sought the help of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and Negros congressmen to rescue four Negrense women allegedly forced into prostitution in Sabah, Malaysia.

The four women forced into white slavery in Sabah, are from the towns of Hinigaran, Himamaylan, Cauayan and Candoni, according to Rep. Ignacio Arroyo (Negros Occidental, 5th District).

Arroyo said the plight of the Negrense women, who came from the towns under his district, was brought to his attention by Negros Occidental Vice Gov. Isidro Zayco.

He said he already asked OWWA's Marianito Roque to look into the plight of the four.

Zayco, on the other hand, said he had also asked for the help of former Rep. Apolinario Lozada, who hosts the "OFW Hotline" show aired over the ANC cable channel every Saturday evening.

Lozada said he would meet with the Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines to seek his help on the plight of the four Negrenses.

Zayco said he was alerted by the women's plight through a text message sent to him by one of the women.

The message said: "Vice gub, napeke kami sang agent namon, ginabaligya kami sa kasa diri sa Malaysia (vice governor, we were fooled by our agent, we are being sold at a prostitution house here in Malaysia)."

She also told him that they could not escape because the people who had custody of them hid them.

The same woman who had sought Zayco's help had also informed Radyo Agong of her plight. The woman said their address in Malaysia was VIP Coconut and Karaoke Lodge in Mile 4 Jalan Labok, Sabah.

Apparently it was not the first time that Filipino women had been brought to Malaysia and forced into prostitution.

A 24-year-old woman from La Castellana suffered the same plight in Malaysia and narrated her tale in an affidavit she executed before the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas Bureau