Four Filipino victims of human trafficking were repatriated from Myanmar and arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last June 26.

Their names were not disclosed by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) which said that two of them were not paid their salaries while the other two were forced to pay P127 each for their release from their recruiter, a fellow Filipino.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco lamented: "It’s sad to hear that our own kababayan (countryman) facilitates the trafficking of other Pinoys. Dinadala pa sa kapahamakan ang kababayan nila, (They were even brought to harm by their own countryman)," he said.

The BI said the victims, two men and two women, were all in their 30s, arrived in the Philippines on board a Thai Airways flight from Myanmar.

All four admitted to have left the Philippines as tourists to Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan, but were transported to Myanmar via boat, it said.

It also said the four victims were promised call center jobs, but they were forced to work as customer service representatives engaged in online scams, mirroring previous repatriates.

When the victims offered to resign, the BI said they were reportedly required to pay hefty penalties before they were released.

Despite the numerous warnings given by the government against human trafficking, Tansingco said that a lot still fall victims to the scam. "Trafficked Filipinos are forcibly transported to illegally cross borders to get to a remote location where it would be hard to escape," he said.

Tansingco declared: "We are now grappling again with the recurring scheme that has victimized many unsuspecting Filipinos. But we will not cease enforcing strict departure protocols and launching a strong communication campaign aimed at informing the public to combat this recurring modus."