Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents have rescued two Filipina victims of human trafficking at the Zamboanga International Seaport (ZIS).
In a report to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, BI travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) said the women, aged 43 and 40, attempted to depart to Sandakan, Sabah via MV Antonia I on March 27.
Both initially claimed they were traveling for a vacation separately, but upon further inspection admitted that they were bound for Lebanon to work as household service workers.
The two flew from Manila to Zamboanga, where they were instructed to ride the vessel to Sandakan.
They stated that they were instructed to stay in Malaysia for one day while waiting for their visa, before flying to Lebanon.
“These traffickers are now attempting to use other ports to evade strict security checks, thinking we are not present there," said Tansingco.
The two were turned over to the Zamboanga sea-based Anti-Trafficking Task Force of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for assistance in filing cases against their recruiters.