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, and worked for six months in Lebanon, expressed her frustration on how her inhumane employer treated her.

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

Sardeña added that when she escaped to seek the embassy's assistance, she was accused by her employer of stealing $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 authority arrested me,"

"I will return 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 how 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 in 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, Marvic said she will invest the financial assistance given by the government into 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. I don't want them to end up like me, only finishing second grade. I want them all to graduate. I am not sure if I will go back to abroad. But if I still lack the means to support my children, I might be forced to leave the country again. I just hope to have a decent employer who will treat me well," Sardeña said.

Sardeña is among the 19 OFWs repatriated from Lebanon who will be receiving P50,000 each from the Department of Migrant Workers and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, P20,000 from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, groceries from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and gift certificates from the Technical Education and Skills Development.