SEN. Grace Poe yesterday called on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to shed light on the supposed use of private aircrafts for the trafficking activities of human smuggling rings.
Poe, in a privilege speech, bared how a private plane was able to depart from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) without a proper pre-flight inspection.
Citing information from her sources, Poe said the PNP Aviation Security Group was tipped last February 13 about an alleged human trafficking activity at the NAIA involving an aircraft with tail number N9527E.
The plane was scheduled to depart for Dubai at 10 p.m. with only six declared passengers but the PNP was allegedly told that “a total of 14 passengers will actually board the aircraft.”
“Mr. President, ang nasabing eroplano ay operated ng Cloud Nine No. 1 Leasing Company Limited, isang Hong Kong registered leasing company, at ang kanilang assigned aircraft ground handler ay isang local company, ang Globan Aviation Service Corporation o Globan (Mr. President, the aircraft is operated by Cloud Nine No. 1 Leasing Company Limited, a Hong Kong-registered leasing company, and its assigned aircraft ground handler is a local company, Globan Aviation Service Corporation or Globa),” Poe said.
Poe said her office is checking if Globan was the same ground handler which facilitated the botched departure out of the country of siblings Mohit and Twinkle Dargani, executives of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, in November 2021.
Poe said that at around 7:45 p.m., aircraft inspectors, together with four PNP-ASG officers, subjected the aircraft, which was then stationed at the Balagbag Ramp, for the routinary inspection of passengers before they are issued a Safety and Security Flight Coordination sheet, which is a requirement before they can fly out of the country.
At around 9:15 p.m., Poe said three “foreign national crew” arrived on board a Globan van, followed at around 10:11 p.m. by three BI officers and six “foreign nationals,” who also alighted from a van owned by Globan.
“They were escorted by the Airport Police Department patrol vehicle,” she added.
After verification, the six foreigners were declared by immigration officers as the flight’s passengers, with another one who has yet to arrive at the time.
Poe said they were able to secure a copy of the flight’s “General Declaration” sheet which showed that it was supposed to have only three crew members and six individuals.
However, she said, a BI General Declaration form showed there were three crew members and seven passengers — a Malaysian, Korean, Chinese, Vanuata and three from Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Poe said the information she got was that the seven passengers had mixed visas – tourist, employment, and Special Resident Retirees’ visa.
At around 10:20 p.m., Poe said eight Asian-looking nationals also arrived but were not able to immediately board the aircraft after seeing that an inspector was taking video of the incident.
Minutes later, Poe said the inspectors noticed three “unauthorized individuals entering the aircraft, followed by the aircraft door closing.”
The aircraft inspectors supposedly instructed a Globan representative to stop the flight, while the PNP-ASG questioned the BI why they allowed the plane to depart without the proper pre-flight inspection, and additional passengers onboard.
The immigration officer, Poe said, simply replied that they have already processed the additional three passengers.
Poe said the aircraft was able to take off at around 10:40 p.m.
Poe said this is not the first time that this happened in NAIA that an airplane departed even without the proper pre-flight inspection.
“More than a just a protocol glitch, the issue digs deeper as it involves national security and human trafficking. We call on the Bureau of Immigration to explain how individuals were able to fly out of the country with just a whim of uttered clearance from an immigration officer without an amendment of the General Declaration based on proper documents,” Poe said.
“Let us not allow private flights in our airports as a highway for human trafficking,” she added.
