The Bureau of Immigration rescued 17 overseas Filipino workers from illegal recruitment syndicates and arrested a suspected illegal recruiter at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The victims were intercepted at the NAIA when they attempted to leave the country by disguising themselves as tourists.
BI Port Operations Chief Grifton Medina declined to name the suspect and passengers as the anti-trafficking law prohibits the public disclosure of human traffickers and their victims.
Medina said the passengers were intercepted in two batches at the NAIA 3 terminal last Aug. 7 as they were about to board their Cebu Pacific Airways flights to Taiwan and Hongkong and Malaysia.
One batch consisted of 12 of the passengers who were bound for Taipei while the other group of four passengers were bound for Hongkong.
“They all confessed during questioning that they are not tourists and that they were hired to work abroad by illegal recruiters,” Medina said.