By Brian Campued
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has intercepted four victims of fake departure stamps, in two separate incidents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3..
In a news release Tuesday, BI said that its immigration officers stopped a 40-year-old male from boarding a morning flight to Hong Kong last August 31 after presenting a passport “marked with a suspicious immigration departure stamp.”
According to BI, the victim admitted getting recruited online by a female recruiter—who allegedly demanded a processing fee of P120,000 and promised he could bypass the immigration without being detected.
The other three trafficking victims—a 32-year-old female, a 27-year-old female, and a 24-year-old male—were intercepted before boarding an evening flight to Singapore.
“The victims falsely claimed to be friends traveling to Cambodia for leisure but later revealed they had been recruited to work as call center agents, with a P50,000 salary for a 12-hour shift,” the BI reported.
The victims were then turned over to the inter-agency council against trafficking.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandova explained that passports are still being checked and validated on their system, despite passengers saying they were already cleared or stamped.
“So, this is not a scheme that can, kumbaga, makakadaan easily just because may tatak ang kanilang pasaporte,” Sandoval said.
“There are security features doon sa stamp po natin that are not seen under the naked eye. There are also a lot of security features that only immigration personnel know about, kaya isang tingin po ng immigration officer natin kita na po ’yong inconsistencies,” she added.
Meanwhile, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco suspected that the victims were recruited to work in scam hubs abroad that pose as call centers.
“Similar to the previous schemes, recruiters directed their victims to meet a supposed contact at a fastfood chain inside NAIA Terminal 3. This contact would typically take the victims’ passports and boarding passes, then return them with counterfeit stamps,” Tansingco said.
“These syndicates give false promises of greener pastures. Despite their appealing façade, their exploitative practices can lead to serious repercussions,” he added. (with a report from Louisa Erispe/PTV News)
– iro