During the Christmas holiday, a human trafficker was intercepted by immigration officials at Clark International Airport (CIA).
Mary Jane Hizon, head of the Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Division (I-PROBES), reported that on December 25, four victims and their companion attempted to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Singapore but were intercepted.
Hizon reported that the four victims, all in their twenties, initially claimed to be traveling alone for tourism purposes. However, after verification by immigration officials, they later admitted to traveling with a 38-year-old female companion.
The victims confessed that they were actually recruited by an Indonesian woman to go to Cambodia to work as coders at a company similar to POGO. Their companion admitted that she was instructed by the recruiter to assist the four victims in entering Singapore and eventually crossing over to Cambodia.
The victims admitted that they were offered a salary of 60,000 pesos to work illegally abroad.
Joel Anthony Viado, the Director of Immigration, stated that the victims of these groups, which illegally recruit Filipinos to work in overseas call centers, are often deceived by scammers.
Phishing is an online scam where scammers forge identities, establish relationships with victims, and then ask the victims to transfer money or invest in fake accounts.
In addition to the Christmas interception, the immigration office also intercepted many cases suspected of recruiting for scam and phishing centers.
On December 10, a 28-year-old man was intercepted at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 while flying to Thailand. He claimed to be a tourist, but later admitted he was recruited online and had obtained documents to travel through Bangkok to Laos.
On December 11, the next day, four people (three women and one man) claimed to be company colleagues traveling to Thailand with a supervisor, who was said to be a foreigner, but later admitted their real destination was Cambodia, where they would work illegally.
On December 18, five people (two men and three women) claimed they were on a business trip to Thailand, but later admitted they were illegally transported to Myanmar. They used forged departure stamps to evade immigration checks and paid the recruiter 20,000 Philippine pesos.
On December 21, two different interceptions occurred: two women were intercepted at the Central Intelligence Agency on their way to Thailand, and three men were intercepted at Manila International Airport Terminal 3, claiming to be traveling to Singapore for leisure. All five admitted they were recruited for customer service jobs with a promised monthly salary of 50,000 Philippine pesos.
On December 22, at Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), a 27-year-old woman claimed she was traveling alone to Thailand, but later admitted she was recruited under false pretenses to work in the country.
Viado stated that a series of interceptions indicate that although the Philippines has declared online gaming and scam centers illegal, some centers are still operating in other countries, enticing Filipinos to engage in illegal scam work.
The Director of Immigration subsequently warned again against accepting invitations for illegal work abroad.
"We see many victims forced to engage in scam work abroad," Viado said. "Do not let this happen to you, do not be deceived into agreeing to the conditions set by these groups," he warned.
All victims and their accomplices have been handed over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation and legal action against the recruiters.
