BUREAU of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco hailed the recent arrest of an alleged human trafficker by members of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
In a statement, Tansingco thanked the IACAT for their swift action on the complaints against a female recruiter, after allegedly facilitating the travel of 5 human trafficking victims.
The recruiter and the victims were intercepted last July 30 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 after attempting to depart as tourists bound for Malaysia and Singapore.
They underwent secondary inspection and were interviewed by the immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES). During the interview, it was confirmed that the 5 were recruited to work abroad as massage therapists, entertainer, tutor, and caregiver and were made to pose by their recruiter as her employees.
The BI’s I-PROBES immediately referred the case to the IACAT. The National Bureau of Investigation – International Airport Investigation Division (NBI-IAID) filed cases against the recruiter for Qualified Trafficking in Persons under Section 6 (c) of Republic Act No. 9208, as amended, Illegal Recruitment committed by a syndicate and in large scale under Republic Act No. 8042, as amended, and Estafa under Art. 315, par. 2(a) of the Revised Penal Code.
Said recruiter previously made headlines on social media after posting last May 10 about her complaint on the procedures of the Bureau.
In her Facebook post, she lamented why she was being stopped from traveling despite having complete documents.
“These human traffickers use social media as their playground, where they blatantly recruit victims and even have the audacity to air complaints about procedures protecting Filipinos,” said Tansingco. “We thank the IACAT for swiftly acting on this case and ensuring that justice is served,” he added.
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