4 alleged trafficking victims intercepted at Clark airport

FILE PHOTO: Passengers troop to the Clark International Airport in Pampanga in this photo taken on April 21, 2023. The airport has flights to 20 domestic and overseas destinations. – Four alleged victims of human trafficking were stopped from leaving the country on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2024, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said. (Photo by Tonette T. Orejas)

MANILA, Philippines — Four alleged victims of human trafficking were stopped from leaving the country on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.

According to the agency, the four women in their 20s were supposed to leave for Singapore on Wednesday via a Cebu Pacific flight from the Clark International Airport (CIA). Each of them claimed to be a tourist traveling alone.

“However, after verification by immigration personnel, they later admitted to traveling together with a 38-year-old female escort,” the BI said, adding that all five women likewise confessed that their ultimate destination would be Cambodia to work as encoders for companies similar to Philippine offshore gaming operators.

“Their escort admitted that she was instructed by the recruiter to assist the four victims in entering Singapore and eventually crossing to Cambodia,” the BI noted.

READ: Public warned vs catphishing syndicates offering jobs abroad

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado warned the public against syndicates that recruit Filipinos to work in call centers abroad because most often, the jobseekers end up working in scam hubs, where they are forced to engage in catphishing.

Catphishing is an online scam in which scammers create fake identities and fabricate relationships with their victims, who they later ask to send money or invest in bogus businesses.

The female escort and the four women victims have been turned over to the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation. The BI said their recruiters may face legal action.

The BI encountered similar cases at different airports of the country between December 10 and 22.

At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the BI stopped:

• a 28-year-old man from leaving for Laos via Thailand on December 10, as he admitted he was recruited online to work abroad
• four individuals supposedly on a company trip to Thailand on December 11 after confessing plans to work illegally in Cambodia
• five people on December 18 for confirming they paid P20,000 to recruiters to smuggle them into Myanmar
• three women bound for Thailand on December 21 after admitting they were promised a salary of P50,000 per month to work abroad

At the Mactan Cebu International Airport, the BI intercepted:

• two women leaving for Thailand on December 21 after confirming they were promised a P50,000 per month salary to work abroad
• a 27-year-old woman on December 22 as she admitted she was recruited to illegally work in Thailand under false pretenses

Viado said these successful operations of the BI only shows that while online gaming and scam hubs have been declared illegal in the Philippines, their continued operations in other countries still lure Filipinos.

“We’ve seen so many victims who have been forced to work as scammers abroad,” he said.

“Do not let this happen to you, do not allow yourself to be duped into agreeing to the terms set by these syndicates,” he cautioned job hunters.