LIFE STORIES

Sarah Balabagan, a Muslim resident of Cotabato City, was only fifteen years old in 1994 when she traveled to the United Arab Emirates as a domestic helper. After working in UAE for seven weeks, Sarah was convicted for murdering her employer, Mohamed Abdullah Baloushi. She was sentenced to death and ordered to pay Baloushi’s family $41,000. Sarah told the UAE courts that she stabbed her employer thirty four times because he repeatedly tried to rape her and finally he succeeded on July 19, 1994. The Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos pleaded to UAE President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahayan to change the conviction from death sentence to a lighter one. As a result, the UAE president changed the sentence to one year in jail and 100 lashes. (Tesoro, Jose Manuel)

Sarah went back to the Philippines in August of 1996. Many people donated money to aid her in her search for scholarships for educational purposes. She was also offered a job in the presidential palace called Malacañang. When she returned to the Philippines, Sarah planned to go to law school so she can have the opportunity to help other domestic workers outside of the Philippines like her to defend themselves against abuse from their employees. ("Sarah Balabagan: From Jailbird to Songbird)