BI: Beware of pseudo-husband trafficking scheme

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) warned on Valentine’s Day, February 14, of a trafficking scheme that involves fake spouses.

According to the BI, it intercepted on Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport a Filipina who tried to depart for Xiamen, China with a Chinese man who claimed to be her husband.

They were attempting to leave as tourists, and the couple also presented an apostilled marriage certificate, but immigration officers flagged them down for further questioning.

READ: BI exposes elaborate human trafficking scheme

According to the certificate, the couple was married in Maguindanao in October 2022, but according to the Chinese man’s records, he was not in the country at the time..

The Chinese national later said that the marriage certificate was processed in China for P40,000.

The BI surmised that this may be a mail-order bride trafficking case.

“In the scheme, women are made to travel with their pseudo-husbands to be trafficked abroad,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.

The BI also said that it rescued a female victim at the Mactan Cebu International Airport with a Chinese national who pretended to be the husband of her relative. The victim said that she was going to China for an arranged marriage.

Tansingco added that the agency will raise the cases at the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for the filing of cases.

“This is very concerning since they are able to present authentic documents despite their sham marriages,” he added.