Gov’t bars 28k Pinoys from leaving PHL in intensified anti-trafficking drive

By NICOLE-ANNE C. LAGRIMAS, GMA News, Dec 19, 2018

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has stopped more than 28,000 Filipinos from leaving the country within the first 10 months of 2018 in what it claims is an outcome of the government’s “intensified” anti-human trafficking campaign.

A total of 28,467 passengers were prevented from boarding their flights after being discovered non-compliant with overseas travel requirements, port operations chief Grifton Medina said in a statement Wednesday.

Most of the passengers blocked from leaving — 23,239 — were stopped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The rest were held back at airports in Mactan, Clark, Iloilo, Kalibo, and Davao, the bureau said.

“What we are trying to prevent here is allowing the departure of victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment,” Medina said, referring to requirements provided under the Department of Justice’s guidelines on departure formalities for international-bound passengers.

“We are considered the last line of defense inside our country to protect our people,” he said.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said there will be “no letup” in the bureau’s campaign and vowed that personnel will remain vigilant during the holiday season.

He said many Filipinos fall prey to illegal recruiters who “sweet-talk” them into posing as tourists to skirt the law. “Sasabihin nila, it’s a risk, lakasan lang ng loob. I appeal to our kababayans not to be fooled by these unscrupulous individuals,” he said.

The BI statement said overseas Filipino workers are required to secure an overseas employment certificate from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, a policy Morente said will “ensure their protection abroad.”

This month, immigration officers intercepted six men and two women, suspected of being victims of human trafficking, from leaving for Cyprus in the guise of being tourists. They were allegedly hired as domestic workers.

In November, six women were barred from flying out to South Korea. They were reportedly recruited as nightclub entertainers.

The bureau also reported that 151 Saudi-bound minor females were intercepted from June to October for allegedly misrepresenting their age. — RSJ, GMA News