45,000 Filipinos barred from leaving

Tempo, Jan. 20, 2017

The Bureau of Immigration said yesterday that more than 45,000 Filipinos, mostly women, were disallowed from leaving the country last year as it vowed to continue its no letup campaign against the lucrative human trafficking racket.

The airline passengers were offloaded for their failure to comply with the government’s requirements for departing Filipino tourists under the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking guidelines.

BI Commissioner Jaime H. Morente said that Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and other ports will remain vigilant in screening departing Filipino travelers to make sure that they do not fall prey to human traffickers and illegal recruiters.

Morente added that several BI personnel suspected of conniving with these syndicates are already being investigated by the Board of Discipline.

“We cannot allow these syndicates to continue preying on our poor countrymen who are forced to go abroad because of their poverty,” the BI chief stressed.

Of the 111,947 referred for secondary interview last year, 66,631 were allowed to depart while the departure of 45,316 passengers was deferred.

They included 667 suspected human trafficking victims and 601 others believed to be victims of illegal recruiters who were immediately turned over to the IACAT for further investigation. (JUN RAMIREZ)