The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has issued a warning against the use of counterfeit overseas employment certificates (OECs) available online, following a series of cases of intercepted Filipinos trying to leave the country with fake documents.
“Our system is integrated with the DMW’s [Department of Migrant Worker’s] database, hence it is very easy for us to verify legitimate OECs. Using these fake certificates will no longer work,” Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.
The BI said it intercepted on Tuesday three individuals in their 30s attempting to depart for Warsaw at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1.
They said they were recruited online and were communicating with their recruiter via messenger.
They have paid around P70,000 for the recruitment and flight ticket. An additional P7,000 was also paid for a fast proceeding of OECs which they received via email.
A similar case of fake OEC was reported in Clark International Airport involving a 28 year-old male who attempted to leave for Dubai in May. The same amount of P7,000 was allegedly paid by the individual to secure an OEC.
In May, the BI said two other female individuals were intercepted for having fake OECs worth P500 acquired through Facebook. AG
