Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport have barred from leaving the country three people suspected of being victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment.
Commissioner Jaime Morente said the passengers were intercepted before they could board their flights to the Middle East and Europe.
He said one of the victims was bound for Dubai, while the two others were destined for Greece, all of them showing intentions to work illegally as undocumented workers.
"Thanks to the vigilance of our primary inspectors for foiling these attempts by human trafficking syndicates to sneak their victims out of the country," BI NAIA chief Grifton Medina said, adding that the victims were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for investigation.
According to BI's Travel Control and Enforcement Unit Head Ma. Timotea Barizo, the Dubai-bound passenger was intercepted after an immigration officer noticed that the Overseas Employment Certificate was not cleared and validated by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration – Labor Assistance Center (POEA-LAC) desk at the NAIA.
Verification with the POEA-LAC later showed that the said OEC was tampered as it was issued to someone else, not to the passenger.
The victim then admitted that her trip was processed by her handlers and that her documents were only given to her when she arrived at the airport.
Barizo also reported that the two Greece-bound passengers who were intercepted last Saturday, likewise presented fraudulent travel documents, including fake OECs and local employment certificates.
Upon interview, they confessed that their documents were only handed to them at the airport and they were recruited to work in Athens by their handlers to whom they each paid P95,000 in return for facilitating their trip and processing their documents.