BI seeks probe on 3 OFWs barrred from leaving for S. Korea

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration has asked the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Trafficking (IACAT) to investigate further the case of three Filipino workers barred from leaving for South Korea last July 6 for carrying fake documents.

BI-Airport Operations Division (AOD) chief Lina Pelia, in her report to Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr., said the passengers were about to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Incheon, South Korea when they were offloaded by members of the BI travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

However, Pelia refused to identify the passengers due to a provision in the anti-human trafficking act that forbids the public disclosure of trafficking victims.

Pelia said the women were offloaded after the overseas employment certificates (OECs) that they presented turned out to be spurious.

These certificates are issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to a departing OFW as proof that the OFW is duly-registered with the agency and hired by a licensed recruiter.

The case of the three has been referred to IACAT who has ties with law enforcers to identify those responsible for the attempt to smuggle them out of the country and provide assistance to the victims.

Initial inquiry by the Bureau of Immigration showed that the series numbers indicated in the OECs, also called e-receipts, of the passengers were on the alert list of the POEA as they have been reported missing.

A check with the POEA counter at the NAIA also showed that the fake e-receipts of the passengers contained fake POEA stamps with a forged signature of a POEA official.

The passengers alleged during questioning that they were recruited by a Korean, through its business affiliate in Manila, to work as entertainers at various nightclubs in South Korea.