BI says traffickers use minors to bring victims out of PH

BI’s Port Operations Division chief Grifton Medina said the scheme was uncovered after two women were intercepted separately at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 while accompanying minors in going abroad, purportedly to visit the children’s parents. (File Photo: Bureau of Immigration, Republic of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday reported another modus operandi of human trafficking syndicates involving female victims where they pose as nannies of minor children in order to evade immigration scrutiny.

BI’s Port Operations Division chief Grifton Medina said the scheme was uncovered after two women were intercepted separately at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 while accompanying minors in going abroad, purportedly to visit the children’s parents.

He said the recent interception happened last December 17 when a 31-year-old woman was stopped from leaving for the United Arab Emirates with a 16-year-old boy.

The other one occurred last December 10 involving a 42-year-old woman who attempted to leave for Macau, who presented herself as the guardian of a 14-year-old girl.

“In both instances, the women pretended to be ‘yaya’ or guardians of their minor companions. Indeed, these syndicates will stop at nothing in using every trick they can think of to skirt our ban on the departure of undocumented workers,” Medina said in a statement.

Ma. Timotea Barizo, chief of the BI’s travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) added that both passengers initially insisted that they were the nannies or guardians of their minor companions.

“They claimed that they were only asked by the children’s parents to accompany their daughter and son in leaving and joining them abroad,” she said.

“Eventually, however, they confessed that they do not know their companions and they were merely asked to accompany them by the parents to be able to travel abroad,” Barizo added.

The BI said subsequent investigation revealed that this was not the first time that the two minors traveled abroad with their alleged guardians.

Also, the women admitted that they previously departed with different guardians but returned without any companion.

BI records show that the girl had twice left the country for Macao with two different women while the boy once traveled to Dubai with another female guardian, but all their companions did not return anymore.

“We believe that those alleged ‘yayas’ ended up working abroad without proper documentation,” Barizo said.