The Bureau of Immigration (BI) today warned human traffickers not to take advantage of the recent easing of travel restrictions for departing Filipinos to recruit and spirit their victims out of the country.

“Our officers at the airports have been ordered to thwart any attempts by these trafficking syndicates to send their victims abroad in the guise of being tourists,” BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said. “We will not allow them to board their flights and they will be sent home.”

Morente said that with lifting of restrictions on non-essential overseas travel by Filipinos, immigration officers were instructed to be extra vigilant in screening departing passengers and refer for secondary inspection those with doubtful purpose in going abroad.

“We are warning our kababayan not to fall prey to the schemes of these syndicates as they will only put you in harm’s way and expose you to possible abuse,” the BI chief stressed.

He also cautioned Filipinos intending to work abroad against using fake travel documents and misdeclaring the purpose of their travel.

“Aside from passports and work visas, departing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) must have an overseas employment certificate (OEC) from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) which they have to present to our officers at the airport,” Morente said.

Atty. Candy Tan, BI port operations division chief, disclosed that even before restrictions on outbound non-essential travel by Filipinos were lifted, BI officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) already intercepted scores of passengers who claimed to be OFWs but were caught with bogus travel papers, including fake visas and OECs and tampered passports.

Tan said illegal recruiters would often provide their victims with tourist visas on on the promise that they will be given their work visas upon arriving in their foreign destinations.

“Some of them even pretended to be seafarers who attempted to leave with fake seaman’s books and letters of guarantee from their alleged employers,” she added.

In 2020 alone, more than 300 Filipinos have been referred by the BI to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking and the POEA for being possible victims of human trafficking or illegal recruitment.

The POEA earlier issued a similar warning to aspiring OFWs. In an advisory, the POEA reminded those who are looking to work overseas that they must possess legitimate travel documents such as passports, work visas among others.

Morente said that he fears more Filipinos will be duped by traffickers due to the pandemic. "These times of uncertainty could be abused by human traffickers, who will promise greener pastures to our kababayan," said Morente.

"Do not fall for their schemes," he warned. DMS