By Ariel Fernandez
Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it recently rescued four more suspected victims of human trafficking at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
(MANILA BULLETIN)
According to the bureau’s travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU), the victims were stopped from leaving the NAIA Terminal 1 last Dec. 22.
They were about to board a flight to Hongkong en route to their final destination in the United Arab Emirates where they were hired as contract workers without proper documents.
“The three women admitted that they were recruited as domestic helpers while their male companion said he was hired to work as a secretary,” said BI-TCEU head Ma. Timotea Barizo.
Barizo said the passengers were allegedly recruited by a certain “Emilyn” who is currently based in the UAE and who employs as a household worker the mother of one of the victims.
All four were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation.
Meanwhile, the BI-TCEU also reported the arrest of an African of Chinese descent, who attempted to leave the country by passing himself as a Filipino.
Honda Winto Chen, 43, was apprehended at the NAIA terminal 3 last Dec. 24 before he could board his flight to Tokyo, Japan.
Chen was prevented from leaving after a check of the BI’s travel database revealed that he had been entering and exiting the country for several years with a Burikina Faso passport. He claimed that he was born in Tondo of Filipino parents, but was unable to speak Filipino when interviewed. Several discrepancies were also noted by the officers which prompted his arrest.
He was brought to the BI detention facility in Taguig City where he remains while undergoing deportation proceedings.