POLO told recruitment agency Asmara International in Manila to contact Crispina Espina Ytem’s employer in the Kingdom as part of efforts to find her. POLO e-mailed the agency after the embassy received a communication from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) regarding the missing maid.

The DFA learned about the case after receiving from Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay a letter hand-delivered by Rolando Espina, younger brother of the missing maid, who is from Pulilan, north of Manila. The letter said Ytem was missing and that she had complained of maltreatment and unpaid salaries. It also asked the agency to provide the brother with details of the employer.

Joey Santos, who works as an operator at a government hospital’s water treatment plant, informed the POLO about Ytem, who is his niece.

He said that Ytem called him last month to ask for help so that she could be removed from the custody of her employer.

“That was the last time that I heard from her. She said that she could not talk much because she was using the cell phone of her employer, who left it on the table but was still somewhere in the house,” Santos said. He said that he also informed the embassy and POLO officials about the incident.

Ytem’s papers were processed in Manila on March 18, 2010. She signed a contract for two years on the government prescribed salary for domestic helpers.

Ytem had been separated from her husband when she left the Philippines to work in the Kingdom. They had no children.