BI stops 2 trafficked Filipinos with fake stamps on passports

FILE: Passengers at NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay City queue at the check-in counter on Sunday (Jan. 1, 2023). (PNA photo by Yancy Lim)

MANILA – Two Filipino women were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported on Saturday.

According to Commissioner Norman Tansingco, both were supposed to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Dubai at the NAIA Terminal 3 on April 19 but failed to get past the bureau’s primary inspection.

The victims, whose names were withheld for their protection, were disguised as tourists but later admitted that they were flying abroad to work as household service workers.

Tansingco said according to the two, they met the traffickers at a fast food restaurant, and they were supposedly instructed to undergo immigration clearance with already stamped passports and boarding passes before heading to the departure area.

“The victims were directed to wait for escorts, but when they got there, nobody arrived and they could no longer contact those who handed them their passports,” the BI chief said in a statement.

Both added that they knew of the job opening from a certain “Regine” and “Onday” whom they met only through Facebook.

Tansingco lamented the incident and warned the public to be vigilant against illegal online recruitment.

“The pandemic has brought challenges to many of our kababayan (countrymen). The sound of greener pastures abroad has become promising. But we remind the public to be wary of the dangers of trusting strangers online,” he said.

The victims were turned over to the custody of the Inter-Agency Against Trafficking for assistance in filing cases against their recruiters.