A Filipino woman who had been promised a job as a domestic worker in Lebanon was forced into prostitution after she arrived.
Cecile Tubadan, 32, was recruited by her live-in partner’s sister Myrene Salvador Abuan to work as a domestic worker in Lebanon. Tubadan said Abuan seemed trustworthy and she took the job and went to Lebanon on a tourist visa, Khaleej Times reported.
Tubadan said she was offered a salary of US$400 a month and she took the job in order to support her four children. On July 19, Tubadan flew to Lebanon, but did not have any work documents or a contract.
“I have no contract, no work document, but I still went to Lebanon because I trusted Myrene,” Tubadan said.
When she arrived in Lebanon, Tubadan was told that she would work for Abuan’s husband, Hashim Ali, until an employer was found for her. However, Ali told her to work as a prostitute under the guise of a masseuse at a spa.
On Sept. 11, Tubadan managed to escape from Ali’s home and ran to the Philippine Embassy. The embassy demanded the recruitment agency that brought Tubadan to Lebanon return her travel documents and give her a plane ticket back to the Philippines or they would take her case to the Lebanese government.
The agency agreed, but had Tubadan sign an agreement that she would not file a case against the agency. On Sept. 13, Tubadan flew back to Manila.
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