Wednesday, August 08, 2007 Zambo police arrest illegal recruiter By Bong Garcia
THE Police Station 7 has forwarded to the City Prosecutor’s Office a charge of human trafficking against an alleged illegal recruiter in this city.
Named respondent to the charge for violation of the anti-human trafficking law is Teresita Tampadong of Sitio Luyahan, Barangay Pasonanca, north of this city.
The police reported that on June 24 Tampadong allegedly recruited a young woman from Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay for a decent job in Brunei but was forced into prostitution in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia.
The police learned that before she was sent to Sandakan, the victim stayed for almost a month at the residence of the suspect while processing her travel papers in this city.
The suspect sent the victim on July 19 to Sandakan where upon arrival the latter was met by the suspect’s fiancé named only as a certain Alrahim.
The victim told the police that Alrahim sold her to a Chinese national at 3,500 ringgits in a hotel in Sandakan.
Five days after, the victim managed to escape from her employer and sought refuge at a house of a Filipina worker before her eventual return to the country.
The victim lodged a formal complaint against Tampadong immediately upon her arrival here last week.
The police arrested the suspect and was brought over the weekend to the prosecutor’s office for inquest.
Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) Director Manuel Barcena has called on other people who might have been victimized by the suspect to come forward and file formal complaint against her.
