DAPITAN CITY – Twenty-three individuals, believed to be victims of illegal recruitment, were rescued in Bakkungan island of Tawi-Tawi on August 20 while on board motor vessel Fatima Raiza.
Lieutenant Commander Noriel Ramos, chief of the Philippine Coast Guard Zamboanga City station, said they intercepted the vessel where victims were onboard en route to Turtle Island.
“The coast guard spotted the vessel and upon inspection, found 23 passengers (10 males, 13 females) who were not able to present any travel document, signifying their official travel to Malaysia,” Ramos said.
“During the investigation, we learned that the rescued victims were scheduled to enter Sandakan in Malaysia via Boan island wherein they had a contact person, identified only as Hadji to fetch them,” Ramos said. He said they still needed to probe deeper to ascertain the identity or identities of illegal recruiters.
He said the majority of the trafficked victims came from different provinces of Western Mindanao, including Pagadian City, Zamboanga City, Dipolog City, Aurora, Zamboanga Sibugay, Labason – Zamboanga del Norte, Davao Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Cebu City, Negros Oriental, South Cotabato and from Metro Manila like Pasig, Marikina.
The victims were brought back to Zamboanga, arriving there on Sunday morning.
Ramos said the profiling of the victims started as soon as they arrived in Zamboanga. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao