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MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Noli de Castro, presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers, said help is underway for several Filipinas who are being illegally detained and allegedly being sexually abused by their Arab recruiter in Damman, Saudi Arabia.
De Castro said he asked the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to investigate the victims’ Filipino counterpart recruiters here and prosecute them.
The case of at least 20 Filipinas being kept and repeatedly raped by their recruiter, Abu Khalid, was brought to the attention of the public by two other Filipinas who managed to escape last week and relate their ordeal to Migrante International in the Middle East.
“We verified this with Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) and our officials there said that initially 16 OFWs were reportedly detained by the said Arab agency," De Castro said.
"At present, five are already with the Polo in Al-khobar and Philippine embassy custody, while three are with Saudi police. One of the five OFWs with the Polo and PE has already filed a rape case against Khalid.”
He said Polo and the embassy were assisting seven more rescued Filipina workers in getting their statements and in formally filing their respective complaints against the Arab recruiter.
