THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday disclosed that human-trafficking syndicates have resumed their nefarious trade in the country’s ports after a brief hiatus due to an intense campaign against the illegal activity that led to a series of interceptions and arrests by local authorities last year.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said he has directed the agency’s Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina to alert all immigration personnel at the airport, particularly those manning booths, to conduct rigorous screening of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to make sure that they are of legal age and eligible for employment abroad.
The BI chief said the resumption of human-trafficking activities surfaced anew after a 21-year-old Filipina household service worker bound for Saudi Arabia was intercepted last Wednesday by BI officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal (Naia) 1 before she could board a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
During subsequent interrogation by authorities, the passenger admitted that her age listed as 25 as indicated in her passport was falsified, adding she is only 21 years old since she was actually born in 1998.
The victim claimed that she only learned that her date of birth was changed when she received her travel documents from her recruiter on the day of her flight.
She was subsequently turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation and assistance.
It can be recalled that last year, the BI reported that more than a hundred underaged Filipina overseas workers, many of them minors, were intercepted at Naia terminals carrying passports with falsified birthdates, although they had valid overseas employment permits, working visas and job contracts.
“This syndicate has stopped deploying underaged women, following last year’s numerous interceptions, as well as arrests by local authorities,” said Morente. “However, with this recent interception, it seems that this scheme is making a comeback. I implore our kababayans who wish to work abroad…[do] not fall victim to these syndicates,” he added.
BI airport personnel assigned to conduct the prescreening of departing OFWs have been instructed to be on the watch for passengers who appear to be minors, or below 23 years old, which is the age requirement for overseas household service workers.
With Recto Mercene