ARJOY M. CENIZA
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday said it halted a Filipino woman suspected of being a victim of a mail-order-bride scheme from leaving the country.
According to the BI, the agency’s immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) intercepted the woman with her alleged husband while attempting to depart for Fujian, China at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 on April 8.
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The two were able to present a marriage certificate showing that they married in 2019 inside a travel agency in Manila.
Genuine
BI’s forensic documents laboratory also found the documents to be genuine.
However, I-PROBES officers doubted her statements after citing numerous inconsistencies between her statements and the documents she presented.
The victim then admitted that they paid P100,000 to obtain the marriage certificate.
“This is yet again another case of the mail-order-bride scheme wherein women are promised a better life abroad but are made to work as domestic workers with little to no salaries,” said BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco in a statement.
The BI said both the woman and her alleged husband were turned over to the Inter-agency council against trafficking for further investigation.