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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider BI bars from leaving PH 2 'fake' Congress employees with 'spurious' travel documents

BI bars from leaving PH 2 'fake' Congress employees with 'spurious' travel documents

Published Jan 12, 2026 05:29 pm
Two women, who posed as employees of the House of Representatives and with “fake” travel documents, were barred from leaving the country, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Monday, Jan. 12.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony M. Viado said the two women, 25 and 26 years old, were intercepted by immigration officers at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) last Jan. 7 before they could board their flight to Vietnam.
Viado said the two intercepted passengers claimed to be encoders of the House of Representatives and were taking a vacation in Vietnam.
But immigration officers noticed inconsistencies in their statements and decided to conduct secondary inspection, he also said.
It was discovered that their certificates of employment were “fake,” he added.
During interrogation, the BI said that the two passengers admitted they had been recruited by a woman they had been communicating online and that they each paid more than P100,000 for the processing of their documents.
They also said that they were instructed by their recruiter to travel first to Vietnam and wait there for their visas and travel arrangements to Bulgaria where they were supposed to work as part of a restaurant crew.
“These are clear indicators of human trafficking—fake employment documents, false declarations, and instructions to wait for papers in another country,” Viado pointed out.
“No Filipino should fall victim to illegal recruiters and traffickers who prey on desperation and false promises,” he warned.
The two women, whose names were not disclosed, have been turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for assistance and for the filing of appropriate cases against their recruiter.
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