A Filipina who presented a fake Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) was prevented from boarding her flight to Hong Kong, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the 27-year-old woman, whose identity has been withheld, was intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 last Dec. 30.
The BI said the Filipina initially presented herself as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) and submitted an OEC as part of her travel requirements.
However, the joint system of the BI and Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) detected that her OEC was not registered, it said.
It added that DMW personnel at the airport also confirmed that the document was counterfeit and issued under another person’s name.
Later, the BI said "the passenger admitted that she had asked a friend to process the OEC on her behalf, and the friend referred her to an individual that she met in Parañaque City to whom she submitted her documents and paid approximately P10,000 to get the fake document.”
The intercepted Filipina has been endorsed to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation and the filing of charges against her recruiter, it also said.
“The BI remains committed to protecting Filipinos by intercepting such attempts to use fake OECs,” Commissioner Viado said.
“I strongly urge the public to process their documents through proper channels to avoid falling victim to scams,” he added.