Human trafficking at NAIA

BY RAMON T. TULFO, Manila Times, Apr 9, 2019

FIDEL Mendoza, Erwin Ortañez, Glenn Comia, Bien Guevarra, Den Binsol.

These people are middle-level officials at the Bureau of Immigration (BI), but they are all multi-millionaires because they are the leaders of a human trafficking syndicate at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The human trafficking syndicate nets a mind-boggling P10 million to P50 million a day!

Human trafficking is a modern term for the slave trade.

In the case of human trafficking at the NAIA, it means:
– Allowing Filipino women to go abroad as tourists when they are actually prostitutes;

– Allowing foreign workers and prostitutes to come in as tourists; and

– Allowing persons with criminal records abroad to enter the country and fugitives to escape to other countries using the premier airport as an entry and exit point.

Now, let’s look at the positions of the above-named officials.

Mendoza was an official at the port operations division (POD) at NAIA. He has been removed from office.

Ortañez is the overall chief of the travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU).

Comia is the head of the TCEU at the NAIA Terminal 1.

Guevarra is the head of the TCEU at NAIA Terminal 2.

Den Binsol was, until recently, the head of the TCEU at NAIA Terminal 3, but was reassigned to the SM North EDSA immigration office after he reportedly was not able to remit a total of P30 million to the syndicate.

The NAIA Terminal 3 travel control enforcement unit is vacant. In truth, it is being run by Billy Cadang and Ortañez.

Nine out of 10 immigration officers at the NAIA are “soldiers” of the syndicate, according to my source who works inside the syndicate.

There are more than 1,000 immigration officers assigned at the NAIA.

An immigration officer at the NAIA receives an average of P80,000 a week from the syndicate, depending on his or her schedule at the airport immigration counter.

The heavy traffic of arrivals and departures at the NAIA occurs at midday, every day.

Around 1,500 Chinese from the mainland arrive and are admitted as tourists, no questions asked.

These Chinese mainlanders have either a visa from the Philippine Embassy or the consulate in China, or they have a Visa Upon Arrival (VUA) issued by Maynardo Marinas, who works in the office of the immigration commissioner.

Each pays an average of P2,000 for VIP “no questions asked” service. These Chinese end up working in online gambling, call centers and construction sites.

Indian citizens who arrive without proper documentation pay P100,000 to P200,000 per head. These Indians usually have no proper visas when entering the country. The syndicate takes care of that.

These Indians end up in the usury business or what is referred to as “five-six” (one borrows P5 and pays P6 on the deadline and the loan extends for months or even years).

The syndicate rakes in colossal amounts every day from departing passengers who have problems with their papers — those who have hold-departure orders because of criminal cases, overstaying foreigners who evade paying the right amount of penalties, Filipino sex workers who are issued tourist visas, and domestic workers without proper documentation.

The amount ranges from P150,000 to P300,000. It can be higher, depending on the problem of the departing passenger, my source said.

For example, a Korean fugitive bypassed immigration departure inspection with a hefty payment of P5 million. These people usually have shady backgrounds to begin with, and these illegal services allow them to operate freely in the Philippines.

The source also said that blacklisted individuals are allowed entry into the country by paying P150,000 to P300,000. Again, the price escalates depending on the reasons for being blacklisted, with some paying up to P5 million.

Departing passengers with no overseas employment certificates issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration pay P25,000 per head.

Originally, these passengers paid P50,000 per head but competition among syndicate members — who are paid according to the number of people they process — has brought down the fee to P25,000, according to my source.

These departing sex workers, laborers and domestic helpers, who hold tourist visas, are sponsored by fly-by-night employment agencies or illegal recruiters, the source said.

Payment is usually done online, where they are wired to various bank accounts owned by the syndicate.

No money changes hands at the airport for the illegal deal, said the source.

Brilliant!

In Thursday’s column, the last part of this two-part exposé, I will talk more about the people behind the syndicate, and how the syndicate came about.