BI chief orders smuggling try of 82 women probed

BAGUIO City, Philippines—Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Ricardo A. David Jr. ordered an investigation Thursday on the circumstances surrounding the recent interception of 82 Filipino women bound for Malaysia.

David gave BI-Zamboanga alien control officer Sitti Rubaina Lutian five days to probe and submit a follow-up report on the incident, adding that “those responsible for recruiting these victims should be identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

In her initial report to David, Lutian said the women were about to board a chartered flight of Lion Air bound for Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia when they were offloaded last March 24.

She added that the passengers were intercepted after the BI-Zamboanga City received information about the scheduled departure from officials of the inter-agency Sea-based Anti-Trafficking Task Force (SBATTF) based in Zamboanga.

Meanwhile, David alerted other BI officials in the South to be on the lookout for other human trafficking and illegal recruitment victims who might attempt to leave the country via the backdoor.

On the other hand, Immigration OIC Associate Commissioner Alberto Braganza said the women’s final destinations are Lebanon and Jordan.

Braganza, who heads the BI-Immigration Regulation Division, disclosed that the women arrived from Manila on three separate flights of the Philippine Airlines, Air Philippines and Cebu Pacific, a few hours before their aborted flight to Malaysia.

“Our immigration officers had no choice but to offload them due to their failure to explain their purpose in traveling to Malaysia. They could not even present their travel itinerary,” Braganza said.

It was learned that some of the women were previously issued visas or had worked in Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.

This is the second time this year that immigration officers in Zamboanga intercepted a big number of “tourist workers” who tried to leave the southern port.

Last February 14, 40 women were stopped from boarding a ship bound for Sandakan, Sabah after their passports were found to have fake immigration departure stamps.