A HUMAN trafficker was intercepted by Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel at the NAIA Terminal 2 while attempting to escort eight victims who were reportedly recruited to work in Israel inspite of the fact that there is an ongoing crisis there.
Immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) chief Bienvenido Castillo III, in his report to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, said that the female trafficker, whose name is being withheld pending an investigation, attempted to depart with the victims on board an Emirates airlines flight at the Clark International Airport (CIA) Terminal 2 in the guise of a pilgrimage to the said country.
Castillo said the victims later admitted that they will work as hospital and hotel cleaners upon their arrival in Israel with a promised salary of P60,000 to P80,000 per month.
All 9 passengers were turned over to the inter-agency council against trafficking (IACAT) for processing while the eight victims will undergo assistance while the trafficker faces cases against her, he added.
Last year, the country placed Israel under crisis Alert level 2, wherein only returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with existing employment contracts are allowed to go back to their destination and resume their employment.
The recruiter reportedly worked as a travel agent and enticed the victims to work under such circumstances.
One of the victims recounted how their agent promised that they will be employed “in a safer part of Israel’.
Tansingco assailed the scheme and said that the recruiter should be put behind bars for putting her victims in harm’s way.
“All for money, this recruiter has made her victims agree to such circumstances despite the major life risk. She should face what she did in court and must be jailed to serve as an example not to prey on the vulnerabilities of our fellow Filipinos,” Tansingco stressed.
