An overseas Filipino worker shared her tragic experience with her employer on Tuesday during the arrival of 19 repatriates from Lebanon amid the attacks by the militant group Hezbollah.

Marivic Sardeña, 37 years old, a resident of Cavite who worked for six months in Lebanon, expressed her frustration with the "inhuman treatment" accorded her by her employer.

"My employer hit my face into the toilet and he was always mean to me. He's not a human; my employer is an animal. He is so cruel, so I escaped," Sardeña said.

She added that when she escaped to seek the embassy's assistance, she was accused by her employer of stealing from him $10,000.

"I went straight to the embassy, but I was also accused of stealing which caused the postponement of my return to the Philippines because the Lebanese authorities arrested me," she recounted.

"I have returned to the Philippines with my head held high, having never stolen. I never fed my children with anything stolen; that thought never crossed my mind," she lamented.

When asked about the challenges she faced in prison, she expressed that she felt more freedom being detained than working for her boss.

"When I was in prison, I was so down. I became a worker in the prison's kitchen just to have decent meals. I was not hurt inside the prison. My situation there was actually better than when I was with my employer. I felt freedom," Sardeña said.

Now that she has returned to the Philippines, Marivic said she will invest the financial assistance given by the government in their small business.

"I am happy that I have safely returned home. I will invest the financial assistance given to me by the government in our small sari-sari store. I want all my children to finish their studies; that has always been my dream," she said.