BI bars 2 from working in Lebanon

MANILA, Philippines - Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport prevented two women from leaving the country to work in Lebanon, where there is a ban on the deployment of Filipino workers, an official said yesterday.

Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said the two women were about to board a flight to Bangkok July 20 when they were intercepted. The women admitted that their final destination is Lebanon and showed their working visas and plane tickets to Beirut, hidden in their underwear.

They also said their Lebanese employer, Fadi Antoine Abou Khalil, was the one who applied for their visas. – Rudy Santos, Evelyn Macairan