Couple nabbed for human trafficking

MANILA, Philippines - A couple were arrested for allegedly selling a Filipino woman into prostitution in Malaysia, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday.

Rona dela Vega and Kenneth Sodesta Demerin were arrested for human trafficking in an entrapment on June 5.

The NBI said the arrest stemmed from a complaint by the victim’s boyfriend that the woman was told she would work as a waitress in a bar in Malaysia for P30,000 as her monthly salary but the bar turned out to be a front for prostitution.

The woman left for Malaysia with the couple on April 21. On April 30, the woman sent a message to her boyfriend seeking help after the bar forced her to engage in “lascivious conduct” with customers and have sex with them at a nearby hotel, the NBI said.

The boyfriend sought the NBI’s help when the couple refused his demand to bring the woman back to the Philippines. The NBI reported that the woman, forced to pay P130,000 to be able to leave the bar, is still in Malaysia.