The government has barred three alleged victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment from leaving the country through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said officers prevented the suspects from boarding their flights to Greece and Dubai.
Two of the victims, according to BI’s Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU) head Ma. Timotea Barizo, were bound for Greece but were stopped at the airport on Aug. 2, 2020.
They presented bogus overseas employment certificates (OEC) and local employment certificates, the bureau said in a press release.
The victims supposedly paid their recruiters P95,000 each for processing their travel documents to be able to work in Athens.
The other victim, who was headed for Dubai, was intercepted on July 25, 2020 when the immigration officer found that the OEC was not validated by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration – Labor Assistance Center (POEA-LAC) desk at the NAIA.
Further inquiry showed that the OEC, which was only given to her when she arrived at the airport, was tampered with as it was issued to another person’s name. Jojo Mangahis