Four Pinay human trafficking victims rescued in Malaysia

Published April 20, 2012 3:00pm

The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said four Filipina human trafficking victims were rescued in Malaysia on April 18. In a news release, the embassy said the four were locked up and were forced to work in a night club in Johor Baru, some 220 kilometers away from Kuala Lumpur.

The victims, all residents from Metro Manila, were allegedly recruited by a certain Ramil Garcia with the promise of high-paying jobs in Malaysia. Garcia then allegedly escorted the victims from Manila to Zamboanga and then Sandakan in Sabah.

Upon arrival in Sandakan , Garcia reportedly turned them over to a certain Norminda Buko Whigan for "sale" to night club owners as customer service workers. The Filipinas were only informed about their "real" work only upon their arrival in Sandakan .

After a two-week stay in Sandakan and no offers from club owners there, the four Filipinas were transported by plane to Johor Bahru in West Malaysia on March 29 and offered to a certain club owner Emy Wong.

The victims, between 27 to 36 years old, were allegedly locked up at the Wong residence, and made to work at the club the following day.

The four victims eventually managed to ask help from the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and other groups, which alerted the Embassy.

On April 18, Malaysian agents of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID)-Anti-Human Trafficking Section, accompanied by two Embassy officials, proceeded to Johor Bahru in West Malaysia and raided the club.

The club owner had left the club, together with the Filipinas, minutes before the police arrived.

The team then proceeded the Wong residence, where they found the Filipinas locked up. The police arrested Mrs. Wong's husband, who was in the house, but Mrs. Wong is still being pursued by authorities.

The Filipinas were then brought before a local judge, who issued an interim protection order, and are now in a shelter run by Malaysian police and welfare authorities. They will later be turned over to the embassy for repatriation to Manila .

The embassy lauded the quick action undertaken by the Malaysian police, Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya said.

Meanwhile, the embassy reminded Filipinos to be aware of the modus operandi of trafficking syndicates, so as to protect themselves from becoming victims.

"Our Filipinos should already beware anytime they are made to exit through the ‘back door’ in the Tawi-Tawi area without proper documentations. In most likelihood, they are being trafficked already," the embassy said. - VVP, GMA News

Tags: kualalumpur, malaysia