MIAA probes use of fake airport passes in human trafficking schemes

THE Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has launched an investigation on the alleged use of fake airport passes to aid human trafficking schemes of illegal recruiters.

In a statement, MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong said airport security personnel intercepted four outbound passengers posing as employees of an airport concessionaire in order to skip immigration procedures since October.

The four individuals, he said, were endorsed to the Inter-agency Council Against Trafficking for proper disposition.

“The MIAA deplores this act against humanity and vows to fully support multi-agency initiatives to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice,” he said.

“With the continued help of law enforcement agencies, the Bureau of Immigration and the intelligence community, the MIAA shall continue to beef up security measures to further safeguard the lives and uphold the dignity of our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWS) passing through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA),” he added.

Earlier, Senator Risa Hontiveros, principal author of the Expanded Anti-trafficking in Persons Act of 2022, bared an alleged recruitment scheme where job hunters were being offered to work in a telemarketing company in Thailand with more than P50,000 salary per month but would end up working in Myanmar as a scammer of crypto currencies.

Some of them were made to pretend, by their recruiters, that they were on vacation trip to Thailand in order to pass Philippine immigration procedures, while “Paulo,” not his real name, said he was given a fake airport concessionaire ID in order to bypass immigration formalities.

Hontiveros said the trafficked overseas Filipino workers who ended up becoming crypto scammers of a Chinese syndicate based in Shwe Kokko town were being maltreated and beaten if they were not able to reach their quota.

She said more Filipinos, according to the witnesses, were being held in the company, waiting for rescue.