Immigration seeks probe into possible involvement of airline personnel in trafficking
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration has called on the officials of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to look into the possible involvement of airline personnel in facilitating the departure of human trafficking and illegal recruitment victims.
In a statement Monday, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco appealed to the NAIA officials after BI officers at Terminal 3 intercepted a woman who tried to leave with a fake immigration departure stamp on her passport.
Tansingco said during the questioning, the woman said she was assisted by an airline employee and a supposed former officemate of the latter in queuing at the immigration departure counter.
Addressing airline personnel, the BI chief said: “They should stop preying on our poor countrymen who want to work abroad due to poverty and their desire to uplift the lives of their families. We thus urge airport authorities to dig deeper into these shenanigans and file the cases against those involved.”
According to the BI statement, the woman shared that she was told to fall in line after her handler gave her passport and boarding pass, which had fake BI departure stamps on them.
The bureau said the incident happened on April 5 and the passenger was supposed to fly to Kuala Lumpur en route to United Arab Emirates where she was recruited to work as a domestic household worker.
A BI officer stopped her from leaving after the former saw that her passport already had an immigration departure stamp that appeared to be fake. The bureau’s document forensic laboratory later confirmed this to be counterfeit.
Tansingco declined to identify the airline who allegedly helped the woman passenger. BI said the NAIA’s anti-trafficking task force and airport police department are already investigating the case. — Kristine Joy Patag
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