Recruiter: Girls’ parents just wanted my help

THE Tagalog-speaking recruiter said she was only trying to help poor families in Bohol province get a better life for their daughters.

“Hindi ko akalain na magkakaganito (I didn’t expect this to happen),” said Emma Leocadio, 41, in an interview.

“Ang kanilang mga magulang ang nagpilit sa akin na hanapan ng trabaho ang knilang mga anak. Nagmamalasakit lang ako. Bakit nila ako ginaganito?  (Their parents asked my help to find jobs for their children. I just wanted to help. Why are authorities doing this to me?)”

Leocadio, who was arrested with her 22-year-old daughter in the aborted sea voyage of 15 young Boholanas at the Cebu City port last Friday, had no lawyer at the inquest proceedings yesterday.

Both respondents were given seven days to file a counter-affidavit.

A charge of “qualified human trafficking,” if filed in court, is nonbailable.

She pleaded to let her daughter go, saying the young woman had  nothing to do with this.

The recruiter said she was a mother of nine children.  A man, reportedly her son, accompanied them to the hearing.

In an interview, Leocadio said she and her daughter went to Bohol province to look for helpers— two for their household, another two for her daughter and two others for a friend.

The rest of the Boholano girls would be “reserved” for other people looking for maids.

She said she got the parents’ consent before she accompanied the girls on a ferry ride to Cebu City although she couldn’t produce any written authorization.

“Paano ko madala ang kanilang anak kon walang consent? (How could I bring  them without their parents’ consent?),” she said.

The female recruiter said the parents even paid for the girls’  boat tickets and other fare./Reporter Ador Mayol