THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced on Thursday it has intercepted two Filipino women at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on suspicion that they were victims of human trafficking.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the two women were supposed to leave the country on February 4 and 5 but were prevented after they reportedly presented “dubious” travel documents.
Their names, however, were withheld due to a provision in the anti- trafficking law prohibiting public disclosure of names of human trafficking victims.
BI’s travel control and enforcement unit said the first victim was prevented from leaving on February 4 for Saudi Arabia via an Emirates flight.
The woman gave conflicting details about her age that prompted the immigration officers to subject her to secondary inspection.
The second victim was intercepted on February 5 while attempting to leave for Singapore via Philippine Airlines.
She was found to be in possession of a “spurious” overseas employment certificate (OEC).
During interrogation, she confessed that she was hired by a fixer who processed her documents in exchange for P85,000 to work as a household service worker.
The two women have been referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance in filing cases against their recruiters.