THREE human trafficking victims were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on Saturday, morning intercepted after it was found out that each of them was holding an employment visa in Malta that had been illegally detached from their passport.
“This is a clear case of trafficking. These are the type of trafficking cases that we handle every day that people do not see. Trafficking is real, and trafficking is here. Let us not resort to saying ‘yes’ to these syndicates in our desire to work abroad,” Tansingco said.
The three female victims, aged 46, 31 and 51, attempted to depart on board a Jetstar flight to Singapore.
Officers of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) shared that the three initially claimed to be high school friends going on a vacation.
They reportedly gave inconsistent statements, which prompted the primary immigration officer to refer the trio for secondary inspection.
Further scrutiny of their documents revealed suspicious substance on a passport page, indicating tampering.
“This modus of lifting visas from passport pages to evade immigration checks is done by big time syndicates who use special chemicals to carefully remove the visa. This was not done by small time recruiters, but by big time syndicates who operate by giving our kababayans false promises,” Tansingco stressed.
It was learned that the three started their application in 2017 and paid a total of almost half a million pesos for their visas.
They received their documentation the same morning in a restaurant in Baclaran, where they were instructed to pose as tourists to Singapore while waiting for their tickets to Malta.
They were also promised work as room attendants in a hotel in the European country.
The BI forwarded their case to the inter-agency council against trafficking (IACAT) for filing of charges against their recruiter.
