EDITORIAL - Private flights for trafficking

Despite the unending horror stories about overseas Filipino workers or OFWs suffering abuse and even murder, human traffickers continue to prey on Filipinos hoping for high-paying jobs abroad. And the human traffickers have enormous resources for luring victims. As detailed last Thursday by Sen. Grace Poe, the traffickers appear to be breezing through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport with their victims on private jets.

This is believed to be the case, she said, in the departure of a private jet last Monday night from the NAIA. Only seven of the 14 passengers were declared to authorities, she said. The Manila International Airport Authority has confirmed that the plane, operated by Hong Kong-registered Cloud Nine No. 1 Leasing Company Ltd. with local ground handler Globan Aviation Service Corp., received authorization to take off for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Aren’t immigration authorities at airports supposed to check the working papers of departing OFWs before allowing them to leave? Poe said the MIAA, Globan as well as the Bureau of Immigration and the Philippine National Police Aviation Group must explain how the aircraft was cleared for take-off. She noted that in December last year, undeclared Chinese nationals on a private plane also skirted pre-flight clearance.

Several OFWs are still waiting to be rescued mostly from Myanmar, where they ended up operating cryptocurrency scams under the supervision of Chinese crime rings instead of the promised high-paying jobs in business process outsourcing. A number of those who have been rescued or managed to escape have detailed stories of being locked up by the cryptocurrency scam rings, forced to work long hours and beaten if they refused.

Filipinos should not be a party to this abuse of OFWs. Senators, however, have presented victims of human traffickers who have pointed to the collusion of certain immigration personnel with the crime rings.

Apart from human smuggling, private flights can be used for transporting contraband, including prohibited drugs and guns. Whether authorities at the airport have been sleeping on the job or deliberately looking the other way for a fee, this racket must be stopped and those involved must be caught and punished.