100 Pinays held in Malaysian sex dens

Over a hundred young Filipino women are being held captive in prostitution dens in Kota Kinabalu, according to two women who escaped from the sex dens with the help of a Malaysian immigration officer.

"Judith" and "Connie" (not their real names) arrived Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Malaysia where they narrated their harrowing experience to Philippine immigration officers.

The two recounted that they were lured by a certain Lea to work in Malaysia as waitresses. Attracted by the prospect of higher pay, both Judith and Connie readily accepted the proposal and were provided passports for their circuitous trip to Kota Kinabalu.

Judith, who worked as a cashier in Makati, and Connie, who worked in a donut store, said that upon their arrival in Kota Kinabalu, they and six other Filipinas were assigned to different prostitution dens by the accomplices of Lea.

They thought they would be working as food servers, but were instead brought to a different kind of workplace.

On their first night in Kota Kinabalu, Judith and Connie and some others who arrived ahead of them were paraded before customers of the prostitution dens. They were later asked to leave the dens to accompany the customers, they said.

They claimed they were later forced to have sex with the customers in places they believed were motels, which abound in Kota Kinabalu.

They said they were hurt by bodyguards when they refused to have sex with the club's customers.

When not with the customers, the women were closeted in the dens under the watchful eyes of security guards, round-the-clock.

In one of their "outings" with their club's customers, Judith bumped into an old Filipina friend, the wife of an officer in the Malaysian Air Force. She sought her help to escape from the prostitution den.

The unidentified Malaysian officer planned the daring escape by befriending the club's customers and convinced them to allow Judith and Connie to leave the motel to talk to some people. Outside, the air force officer picked them up and sped off with them to safety.

Judith and Connie were first brought to Labuan City and Tawaw, where they hid for a few days until the military officer was able to contact a friend from the immigration office.

Both of them helped Judith and Connie board a Malaysian Airlines plane to Manila, despite the absence of the proper travel documents. At the NAIA, senior intelligence officers Rudy David and Patrick Tenorio interviewed the two women and referred their case to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force.

Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez dispatched agents to accompany the PAOCTF to Quezon City to arrest Lea, but she eluded arrest. Rodriguez also asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to instruct the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to verify the story of Judith and Connie.