FILE PHOTO: Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla. (Senate PRIB)
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Thursday said he ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the alleged human trafficking scheme involving Filipinos who were supposedly recruited for crypto-scamming jobs in Myanmar.
“We’re already investigating that,” Remulla told reporters, citing the hearings conducted by the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality where Sen. Risa Hontiveros revealed a new modus that facilitates the outbound trafficking of Filipinos into Myanmar, carried out by individuals who have alleged connections to Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials or airport terminal personnel.
During the Senate hearing on Tuesday, Hontiveros presented a man, identified only as Paulo, who claimed to have been illegally recruited to work in a telemarketing company in Mae Sot, Thailand, but later learned that it was actually for a crypto-scamming job in Myanmar.
According to the senator, Paulo’s recruiter told him that an “escort” would help with immigration to expedite his departure from the Philippines. He was also told that P30,000 would be deducted from his salary for the service.
The escort had Paulo’s passport stamped with the official BI exit stamp even though he did not go through an immigration counter, Hontiveros said, adding that Paulo was also given a fake airport access pass and asked to pretend to be an employee of one of the airport concessionaires.
Last week, Hontiveros, also gave a privilege speech about 12 other overseas Filipino workers, who were promised jobs in Thailand, but ended up in Myanmar to become crypto scammers of a Chinese syndicate based in Shwe Kokko, a town in the Kayin State of Myanmar.
The senator earlier said that some rogue BI personnel could also possibly be behind the new modus, to which Remulla said it was “very possible.”
But immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said they have yet to find links tying BI personnel to the issue, although Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said he would coordinate with the Office of Senator Hontiveros to seek further information and urged airport authorities to investigate the rising cases of attempted trafficking involving fake entry passes.
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