COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Authorities are looking for the recruiters of 15 human trafficking victims who were headed for Malaysia, where they had been promised jobs.
Police Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, and Army Lt. Gen. Roy Galido of the Western Mindanao Command separately told reporters Tuesday that the victims are now in the custody of the social welfare office of Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.
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The human trafficking victims, among them three children brought by mothers hoping for employment in Malaysia, were together in two small boats from Zamboanga City, the M/V Trisha Kerstin and M/V Ever Queen of Pacific.
Combined personnel of the 7th and 12th Marine Battalions, the Tawi-Tawi Provincial Police Office and the Regional Maritime Unit-BARMM intercepted the two boats as they w approaching Bongao from Zamboanga City.
Municipal and police officials said the victims had been promised high-paying jobs in the poultry industry in Papar and in an oil palm plantation in Semporna, both districts of Sabah.
Two of their recruiters, initially identified only as Gina and Marvin, reportedly assured them that their passports would be processed while they are working abroad. The duo is now subject of an extensive manhunt by intelligence agents of units under WestMinCom and the Police Regional Office-9. — The STAR/John Unson