Kin of trafficking victims want perpetrators caught
The relatives of several Filipino trafficking victims who were recently repatriated from Cambodia urged the Philippine government on Monday to go after the perpetrators.
“I want charges to be filed against them for what happened to my daughter in Cambodia, so that somehow, there can be justice for what they went through,” said Erlinda Alberca, mother of one of the repatriates, during a news briefing organized by Migrante International.
Her daughter was among those rescued from Oddar Meanchey province in Cambodia, after being enticed online with supposed business process outsourcing jobs that promised salaries of P40,000 to P50,000 per month.
Instead, they were taken to a remote rural area and forced to scam fellow Filipinos under threat of physical torture.
Lolita Bacarra, mother of April Bacarra, who was also among the repatriates, said her daughter went through the same ordeal.
April, a single mother of four and her family’s breadwinner, was offered a customer service job in Cambodia by someone she met online. She left the Philippines in January on a tourist visa.
Lolita said she wants the recruiter to be held accountable “because if they aren’t, more people will fall victim.”
Their experience prompted a warning from the Department of Foreign Affairs about deceptive overseas job offers being circulated on social media.
