THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday announced the arrest of a man believed to be working as courier for a syndicate engaged in the trafficking undocumented Filipino female workers to the Middle East by disguising them as boxers.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime H. Morente identified the suspect Rexsan Naval Godala, 30.
Godala was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 on October 2 before he and two of his victims were about to board a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok.
Morente said Godala, who introduced himself as a professional boxing trainer, was supposed to escort the victims who pretended to be boxers and wore jersey shirts emblazoned with a logo of the Philippine flag.
“It turned out that he was not a boxing trainer and that the Games and Amusement Board [GAB] license and letter of authority purportedly signed by GAB Chairman Abraham Mitra, which he presented, are spurious,” Morente said.
The BI did not reveal the identities of the victims, but said they confessed during interrogation that upon arriving in Bangkok they would take a connecting flight to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where they were supposed to work as maid and waitress, respectively.
All three passengers were turned over to the Interagency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation and filing of charges.
It was learned that this was not the first time that Godala, who later admitted he is a boxer but is not connected with GAB, was seen accompanying Filipinas posing as boxers in their trip abroad.
A report by personnel from the BI’s Travel Control and Enforcement Unit showed that on September 14, Godala managed to escort out of the country two women similarly disguised and dressed as boxers.
But the two women never returned to the contrary as per verification with by the BI’s travel data base, contrary to Godala’s claim that the two would return after two days.
Godala also admitted that on August 28, he accompanied three other women, also disguised as boxers, in going to Thailand, purportedly to take part in a boxing competition there.