Sen. Tulfo bares existence of ‘backdoor pass’ used to traffic OFWs

A HUMAN TRAFFICKING SCHEME DISCLOSED: Sen. Raffy Tulfo discloses a human trafficking scheme that victimized OFWs through a backdoor pass from the Philippines to Malaysia, Thailand, and eventually to Europe. —Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Raffy Tulfo bared on Wednesday the alleged lapses in the country’s port security following Alice Guo’s escape from Philippine jurisdiction.

In a privilege speech delivered during the chamber’s plenary session, Tulfo said a group of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) approached his office and voluntarily told their stories on how they were illegally recruited and lured into this human trafficking scheme through a backdoor pass from the Philippines, to Malaysia, to Thailand, and eventually to Europe.

“These OFWs voluntarily detailed to me the information about the backdoor exit, which we struggled to extract from Alice and Shiela Guo. It was painful to hear their stories knowing that they were fooled into paying a big amount to fulfill their dreams of working in Europe, only to end up almost losing their lives, getting sexually harassed, and drowning in debt without any source of income,” said Tulfo.

According to Tulfo, the OFWs were asked to pay about P400,000. He then detailed the travel details of the three, which somehow shares a resemblance to the initial story told by Shiela and Alice about their escape.

READ: Shiela Guo confirms escaping PH with siblings Alice, Wesley via boat
“Their journey started on August 6. They took a commercial flight from Manila to Zamboanga. On August 7, they flew from Zamboanga to Tawi-Tawi. After they landed, they rode a tricycle to Bongao Port to board a ferry to Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi. In Sitangkai, they stayed at the house of a Tausug. At 10 o’clock at night they boarded the boat again and stopped at a house in the middle of the sea,” said Tulfo.

Tulfo said they arrived on the night of August 8 in Semporna, Sabah, where two vehicles took them to Kota Kinabalu. On the way to Kota Kinabalu, their faces were covered and given IDs belonging to other people.

READ: Pogo boss helped Alice Guo escape – Estrada

The OFWs then stayed at a hotel in Kota Kinabalu from August 9 to August 13. On August 13, they boarded a plane to Kuala Lumpur.

“They were taught where the immigration counter was. They said that their passport was stamped but it is not showing up in the system,” said Tulfo.

The senator bared that they eventually reached Thailand and were later transported to Europe.

“But on September 1, when they approached the check-in counter of the airport, they were halted because they were going to Europe without luggage. The check-in personnel asked for their work papers. They were content to show their original employment papers. But the check-in personnel told them to wait and called the immigration officers. There they were told that they could not leave because there was an immigration problem,” Tulfo detailed.

Only then when the OFWs were made aware of the dilemma they were facing. Tulfo said their recruiters even tried to get money from them “in order to fix the problem.”

This did not sit well with Tulfo, who emphasized that such incidents prove the weakness of the country’s border security.

He said there’s a need to tighten regulations in terms of private voyages at sea.

“Without the proper border security, we are a hub for human trafficking, smuggling, escape route and hide-out for fugitives, drug operations, and so much more,” he said.