Two Filipinos, who were suspected to be human trafficking victims, have been intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) before they could take their flight to Bangkok, Thailand.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) did not release their names. It said the two Filipinos attemped to leave the country by posing as tourists and travelling to Bangkok for a vacation.
“They claimed to be employed here but presented doubtful employment documents and failed to explain their travel itinerary in Thailand,” the BI said.
On further questioning, it said the two Filipinos eventually admitted that “their final destination is Cambodia and that they were just instructed by their handlers to wait for their employment documents while in Bangkok.”
It also said the two Filipinos claimed that were promised “a monthly pay of P40,000 in return for their services as ‘encoders’ in Cambodia.”
Had the two Filipinos not been intercepted, Immigration Commissioner NormanTansingco said “they would have been in Cambodia right now working for employers who might harm and maltreat them as experienced by many of our countrymen who went there before them.”