MANILA, Philippines —The Bureau of Immigration said on Thursday its agents intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport a woman who faked a mole on her face in an attempt to match the face in the picture that was on the passport she was carrying.
Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said the passenger was attempting to board a Philippine Airlines flight to Singapore.
The woman wore an artificial mole to make it appear that she and the woman in her passport, who was her look-alike, were one and the same, David said, citing a report by BI-Airport Operations Division.
The commissioner declined to reveal the passenger’s name as the anti-trafficking law forbid the public disclosure of the identities of human trafficking victims.
He, however, warned other Filipinos who wanted to work abroad to desist from employing tricks that would enable them to leave the country illegally.
“Such tricky and deceptive schemes will not work because it will not escape the watchful eyes of our people at the airports,” David said.
BI-AOD acting chief Benito Se said the passenger was lining up at the immigration departure counter when she was invited for further questioning. She claimed she was traveling as a tourist but immigration officers found out she had no hotel reservation and could not explain her purpose in going to Singapore.
Se said the immigration officers noticed differences between the facial features of the passenger and those of the woman in the picture on her passport.
“She was asked to wipe her face with a handkerchief, and the fake mole on her face was removed,” Se reported.
The passenger was later turned over to officials of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking at NAIA for further investigation.