28,000 travelers barred from leaving Phl

Over 28,000 travelers were prevented from leaving the country in the past 10 months amid an intensified campaign against human trafficking, according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

Grifton Medina, BI port operations division chief, said the passengers were barred from boarding their flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Mactan, Clark, Iloilo, Kalibo and Davao international airports for not complying with the requirements for overseas-bound passengers.

Medina said these requirements are provided under the Guidelines on Departure Formalities for International-Bound Passengers set by the Department of Justice that the BI has been implementing.

“What we are trying to prevent here is... the departure of victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment,” Medina said.

He said 151 minor girls bound for Saudi Arabia were among those intercepted from June to October.

Last August, four Filipinos bound for Germany were rescued in Clark from an alleged illegal recruiter.

In November, six women, who were reportedly recruited to work as entertainers in South Korea, were prevented from leaving after they presented fraudulent documents.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente commended BI port personnel for their vigilance.

“There will be no letup in our campaign for as long as there are syndicates who continue to unlawfully send our countrymen... to foreign countries,” Morente said.