MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Tuesday its agents arrested a Filipino-Belgian woman caught facilitating the departure of three undocumented workers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said the victims were about to board a Philippine Airlines flight to Bangkok, Thailand, when they were intercepted by elements of the BI Travel Control and Enforcement Unit.
The suspect was arrested later at the NAIA Terminal 2 departure area and turned over to the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking’s NAIA Office for Investigation and Prosecution.
The victims allegedly admitted during investigation that their final destination would have been Paris, France, and that they were hired to work there by the suspect. They also claimed that each of them paid her P500,000 in exchange for facilitating their trip and employment in France.
The suspect’s and the victims’ names were withheld by the BI in compliance with the rules of Republic Act No. 9208, or the Anti-Human Trafficking Act of 2003, which has prohibited the public disclosure of the identities of parties in a human-trafficking case.
In his report to David, Benito Se, BI airport operations division acting chief, said the victims were earlier asked to fill up questionnaires regarding the circumstances of their trip as required by new rules in screening departing travelers suspected of being human-trafficking victims.
Se said the women initially claimed that they were close friends embarking on a pleasure trip to Thailand.
“But their trick was discovered after we noticed many inconsistencies in their answers to the questionnaire,” Se added.
Upon further questioning, the victims spilled the beans on the suspect.