BI vows intensified campaign vs. human trafficking

MANILA – Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco on Tuesday vowed that the bureau will continue its intensified campaign against human trafficking and illegal recruitment despite social media bashings.

“There will be no letup in our campaign so long as these traffickers and illegal recruiters continue to prey on our countrymen who are sent to work abroad without proper documents and protection from the government,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“I have instructed our officers to keep doing their duties with dignity and patriotism. Social media ridicule will not deter us from performing our mandate to combat human trafficking in our ports,” Tansingco added.

He expressed belief that the syndicates themselves are behind a smear campaign against the bureau, in the mistaken belief that it will prompt frontliners to relax and lie low in its campaign against human trafficking.

Tansingco reported that his office has received reports of passengers being unruly during inspection, making it difficult for the officers to conduct their work.

“Our officers are reminded to conduct their work professionally. We request that the traveling public likewise return the respect towards our uniformed personnel,” he said.

“I have asked them to stay focused on their jobs because what we are doing is to protect our countrymen from being subjected to abuse and maltreatment in foreign lands,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has foiled another attempt of alleged human trafficking with the interception of three Filipino departing passengers believed to be illegally recruited to Dubai through Hong Kong.

The victims, whose names were withheld for their protection, attempted to leave the country last April 11 via a Cathay Pacific flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.

The passengers initially posed as tourists bound for Hong Kong but eventually admitted to being recruited as household service workers (HSWs) in Dubai.

“The passengers presented certificates of local employment at a law firm so as to intimidate and trick the immigration into thinking that they will be travelling for tourism purposes. They later confessed, that a certain Helen promised them jobs as HSWs in Dubai to receive a salary of AED1600,” Tansingco said.

The victims said they were supposed to stay in Hong Kong while they wait for their visa to the United Arab Emirates.

They were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance in filing cases against their recruiters. ■