TACLOBAN CITY — Lured by a P5,000 monthly pay, a 15-year-old boy left his home here to join other male neighbors to work in a province in Luzon to help his family.

As it turned out, work was hell on a fish farm in Pangasinan province, which was operated by Chinese nationals who could hardly speak Filipino.

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Fifteen-year-old Yohan (not his real name) did not get the pay he was promised, and he was made to work from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m., without breaks and leaves.

He and his fellow workers were thrown into sleeping quarters that looked like pigsties and were given foul-smelling food.

A recruiter, identified as Eduard Moreno, went to Barangay 96 in Tacloban, where the workers lived, to recruit young men to work on the Pangasinan fish farm owned by the Chinese nationals in Sual.

They were to receive P5,000 a month to feed the fish, he told them.

The pay and supposedly light work prompted Yohan to pack up his bags and join his neighbors on July 12 on a trip to Sual.

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They boarded vans that displayed the logo of a broadcast network to prevent law enforcers from flagging them down.

When they arrived in Sual, the group realized that they had been deceived.

They were told that they would get only P3,500 a month. At least P200 was also deducted from their pay for each absence.

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“We could not afford to get sick because P200 would be deducted from our already measly compensation,” said Eladio Velasco, 20, one of the recruits.

The Chinese nationals who owned the fish farm knew only rudimentary Filipino and their limited vocabulary included cuss words that they hurled at workers.

Work started at 4 a.m. requiring the recruits to haul bags of feed from a warehouse to feed the fish in cages.

No rest

The workers were not allowed to rest, even for a few minutes, from the backbreaking toil under the heat of the sun or heavy rain.

Bedtime was set at 10 p.m., but their sleeping quarters looked like pigpens, Yohan said.

Velasco said the Chinese bosses were cruel to the workers and would often curse them for no reason at all.

Food consisted mostly of fish and vegetables that smelled bad.

Monitored by armed men

They could not escape because they were being monitored by men armed with rifles.

Yohan, along with 33 others, could now heave a sigh of relief.

They were rescued on July 19 when agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in Pangasinan raided the farm.

Mom’s plea

The raid stemmed from a plea for help by Yohan’s mother, who went to the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) to report that her son had not contacted her since he left home on July 12.

Carmela Bastes, social worker at the CSWDO, immediately informed the regional office in Tacloban City which, in turn, contacted officials in Pangasinan on July 13.

The NBI and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Pangasinan raided the fish farm at around 10 p.m. on July 19.

Claire Banzuela, social welfare officer of Pangasinan, said the Chinese owners did not resist during the operation. Their identities were not provided.

Human trafficking

She said the NBI would file human trafficking charges against the Chinese nationals and recruiters of the victims based on the recruits’ statements.

Banzuela said the victims had been escorted back to their homes in Tacloban. They were presented to the media by the city government.

Yohan said he would like to continue his studies. He did not enroll in Grade 5 this year because he wanted to help his family.

The Barangay 96 chair, Jocelyn Rosales, said the authorities were looking for the recruiter, Moreno, who lived in the village.

Moreno’s contact in luring the victims to work in Sual was his brother, Dick, who is said to be residing in the Pangasinan town.

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