They sought assistance from Arab News, which eventually put them in contact with Labor Attaché Vicente Cabe of the POLO.

"Our sponsor's wife hit me on the head when I forgot to put the cream she uses whenever she goes out in her bag,” one of the housemaids, 32-year-old Elizabeth, told Arab News.

“I did not know which cream she wanted. She had too many to choose from."

"She hit me on the head because I could not follow her instructions. That was the second time she did it. She also hit me on the head last year."

The housemaid claimed to have finished her contract on Monday, but her sponsor's wife insisted that her contract was due to be finished in September. "Aside from delaying my exit and hitting me, our sponsor has not also given our salaries for two months," she added. She receives SR1,000 monthly.

When Elizabeth decided to escape, the other housemaid, 25-year-old Louella Gallego of Iloilo, decided to go with her. Gallego said that her contract ended on June 15 but her sponsor insisted that she'd leave in August.

"I was afraid to be the only maid left after Elizabeth escaped. The sponsor's wife might also have harmed me physically," she told Arab News.

She added that originally, there were three of them serving their sponsor's family. The third one was Marilou Basinang, 39, of Capiz, south of Manila.

"Marilou was also put under intense pressure when she was still here with us. That was the reason she did not renew her contract. She was supposed to leave in February but she was allowed to leave only on June 6," she said.