HUMAN trafficking syndicates are now making their victims pose as missionaries on a church trip to evade inspection, the Bureau of Immigration said yesterday.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said they uncovered the new modus after immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 intercepted three individuals who posed as fake missionaries to board their Thailand-bound flight last April 1.
Viado said the three women – aged 23, 25, and 50 – were attempting to board a Scoot Airlines flight to Singapore, connecting to Thailand, when they were apprehended.
“The female trafficker and her victims claimed to be full-time church volunteers designated for a missionary mission in Thailand,” he said, adding that discrepancies in their documents raised suspicion, leading to further questioning by immigration officers.
“Upon questioning, the two victims confessed they were not part of a missionary group but licensed teachers recruited for illegal employment at a school in Thailand,” he added.
Viado said the victims also admitted they were recruited by their woman companion, who claimed to be the founder and head preacher of their congregation.
He said they also disclosed during questioning that they were yet to be formally hired and were asked to prepare employment documents like their transcripts, in case the school decided to employ them.
The immigration officers, according to Viado, noted that the female trafficker recently traveled to Thailand.
“A check of her records showed she had previously left with another group of passengers, whom she claimed were also her church companions, but had not returned to the Philippines,” he said.
“This case echoes the ‘Bitbit’ scheme, where a frequent traveler, acting as a courier, attempts to transport group of passengers under false pretenses, while victims are unknowingly coerced into illegal work,” he also said.
The BI referred the victims to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance and further investigation.
It can be recalled that in 2011, six Lebanon-bound Filipinas posed as nuns to evade being questioned. They later admitted to be traveling to work illegally in the said country.
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation said it arrested last April 3 the recruiter of the victims.
The recruiter was arrested based on the information provided by the victims and after the NBI verified with the Department of Migrant Workers that she is not licensed or authorized to recruit workers for overseas employment, according to NBI Director Jaime Santiago.
Viado praised the quick efforts of the NBI in apprehending the illegal recruiter.
“More arrests lead to less victims —this means that our kababayan are more protected from these predators that take advantage of their vulnerability,” he said. – With Osias Osorio
