Damayan Presents: Baklas Stories, Episode 1 - “Sherile”

“Sherile” is a 16-minute short film detailing the story of Sherile Pahagas, a Damayan member and labor trafficking survivor, trafficked by her German diplomat employers, Pit and Mareike Koehler. She, together with Damayan, filed a humanitarian visa (T-visa) which she has won. In 2017, she and another domestic worker trafficked by the Koehlers, filed a stolen wage case. Under the iron-clad protection of diplomatic immunity, an international law codified in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Sherile and the other worker’s case was dismissed. Sherile wasn’t able to claim any of the $212,000 stolen wages that was owed to her. To know more about Damayan: www.damayan migrants.org