Leah’s employers beat her severely just for hiding a test paper with a failing mark. Leah subsequently escaped from their household, but is now hiding in fear for her life. Petite and looking much younger than her 19 years, she dreads her employers’ threats to kill her the moment they find out where she is.

Leah grew up in a broken family. She is the eldest of four children, excluding her stepsiblings. She was just 11 years old when her mother ran away with another man to Antipolo City; subsequently her parents both started new families of their own. Following her mother’s flight, Leah lived with her father and stepmother together with her siblings and a stepsister.

There was a certain Melinda, a recruiter, in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte. In June of 2002, Melinda recruited Leah together with her 21-year old stepsister, a 16-year old cousin and a 15-year old townmate. Melinda told them that they would work in a restaurant in Batangas and would receive a monthly salary of P3,500. She added that they would be able to study and send remittances to their families. Leah’s father and stepmother were likewise given to believe that the siblings would be working in a restaurant, so they gave the girls permission to leave.

Melinda bought one-way tickets for the recruits. The son of a certain “Mommy” traveled with the girls aboard the ship to Manila. Once the group arrived at the Manila North Harbor, they rented a van to bring them to Balagtas, Batangas. Mommy, who was probably in her mid-forties, was indeed waiting for them in Balagtas. For two weeks, she fed the girls in her own house. In exchange for the free board and lodging, Leah was tasked to do house chores, while two of her companions were assigned to the carinderia (small eatery) and the other one was sent to the house of Mommy's other son.

One day, Leah was surprised when a number of young women came to the house to teach her how to dance. The group explained that they had to do this because otherwise Mommy would punish them. Then one night Leah was brought to a club to orient her to the new job that she would do. She was shocked to see a lot of nude young women dancing around the male customers. She recognized some of them; one was her classmate from Davao, while others were her townmates.

The night before her first "show," however, Leah and her companions managed to escape with the help of a certain Piolo, a construction worker who frequented the bar. He brought them to his friend in Malvar, Batangas. Together with his wife, Piolo helped them find work as domestic workers in Calamba Laguna and Tanauan, Batangas.

Leah ended up as a domestic worker in the house of Mark, one of Piolo's friends. Mark, a former soldier, lived with his wife Zeny and their one-year-old baby. They promised to pay Leah P1,500 a month. Instead, they only gave Leah a transportation allowance when they allowed her to attend the nearby school.

Leah remembers Mark as a kind man while Zeny was unfriendly. “Masyado siyang bugnutin. Minsan mabait siya, tapos bigla na lang nagwawala. Pinagbubuhatan niya ako ng kamay, binabatukan at sinasabunutan. Madalas siyang awatin at sabihan ni Mark ng ‘Tama na yan!’” (“She is very moody. Sometimes she is kind, then suddenly she gets uncontrollably angry. She would slap my face, hit me in the head and even pull my hair. Mark would often intervene by saying, ‘That is enough!’”)

Because she wanted to finish her studies, Leah tried to endure the bruises and beatings. But one day, the tests became too much to endure.

When Zeny learned that Leah had tried to hide the failed results of a test and her school report card, she punished her without remorse. Zeny slapped Leah, pulled her hair and then dragged her out of the house to humiliate her in front of their neighbors. The next day, Leah again tried to lie to Mark about the test results. Zeny flared up again and hit Leah with the ”duster” (dust remover) again and again, not stopping until the beatings had left Leah with a 10-inch abrasion on her right hand and a black eye.

Leah still went to school despite her black eye, which she couldn’t hide from her classmates. She tried to cover up what her employer had done to her, but her classmates who were also domestic workers convinced her to run away. With her classmates’ support, Leah managed to escape from her employers and was brought to VF for temporary shelter.

After filing a case against Zeny, Leah decided to go home because she fears her employers will come and kill her if they find out where she is hiding.