A suspected human trafficker and his "victim" were arrested last April 27 at the Davao International Airport before they could board their flight to Singapore, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Monday, April 29.

After their arrest, the BI said the man and the woman, whose names were withheld, were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).  It said the man will be charged with human trafficking.

The man introduced himself to immigration officers as the employer of the woman and they were going to Singapore as tourists, the BI said.

However, it said the  woman later admitted that “she was recruited to work as a household service worker in the United Arab Emirates for an undisclosed amount.”

“She stated that her male companion instructed her to state that she is traveling abroad as his personal house helper for a short vacation,” it also said. 

Further verification showed that the man "has previously sponsored the trip of another woman who failed to return on her declared return date,” it added.

Later, the man "admitted that he previously escorted another female victim, who left for Singapore but transferred to Thailand."

The BI’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) suspected that “the man was recruiting Filipinos to work in the Middle East but leave his victims stranded.”