Ruby's search of a better life

Puerto Galera is an island known for its pristine waters and beautiful resorts. Tourists arrive daily, wanting to plunge themselves in the beauty of this God-given island, wanting to partake in this of paradise that was placed here on earth.

Ruby's trip to Puerto Galera was memorable, not because of the island's beauty, but because it was in that trip that she was almost sold into slavery.

At 14, Ruby thought anything is better than the life she has been living. From a poor area in Mandaluyong, Ruby shared a small room with the rest of her family which comprise of a stepfather who was always drunk, a nagging mother, and three other siblings.

Hope appeared in the guise of a friend's aunt, Nellie, who said she could get her a job at a restaurant on the coast.

“With a good salary I could send money home to my family,” Ruby said.

Together with five other girls, Ruby met at Nellie's house, where they were shown their uniforms – short vest tops and miniskirts – and were asked if they were virgins. They were also made to stay in Nellie's house overnight, as they will leave early in the morning to Batangas.

At the port, a suspecting guard stopped Nellie and her brood and questioned them. Ruby, having no idea of the guard's purpose, told him that they were bound to Puerto Galera, and that she was only 14.

It was then that the guard took the group to the police station, where Nellie was apprehended, and her recruits were saved.

A social worker from the Visayan Forum told them that they have just been saved from being sold to sexual slavery.

With the help of the Visayan Forum, Ruby and another victim filed a case against Nellie. It was a long court battle, and the girls were not saved from threats and intimidation by Nellie's friends and family.

“Sometimes it felt hopeless and I wanted to give up,” Ruby related. She later discovered that her mother has been offered a hefty sum in exchange for Ruby's testimony. Her mother refused.

“I was surprised, but also proud and happy that my mother thought I was more important than money.”

Then finally, after four years of litigation, Nellie was found guilty of child trafficking and was sentenced to life imprisonment. It was a historical verdict, as it was the first conviction of a human trafficker in the Philippines.

At present, Ruby is reunited with her family, and is on her final year in college. She travelled in many cities and countries, telling and re-telling her story, giving a face and lending her voice to the thousands of women and children who are being brought into slavery.

Ruby wants to become a social worker and work for the Visayan Forum, as “a way of giving back after everything the have done for me”.

Ruby had her life back.

Ruby is now living the “better life”.