THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) said three Filipinos bound for Malaysia were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after being found to have no legitimate job offer in the country.
The three, bound for Kuala Lumpur via Singapore, initially claimed they were coworkers taking a vacation. However, inconsistencies in their employment records, financial capacity and travel declarations prompted immigration officers to scrutinize further. The three said their employment arrangements would be discussed only upon their arrival in Malaysia.
”An overseas job offer should never require you to travel first and find out the details later,” Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said on Wednesday.
The passengers were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation and assessment.
The case was the latest in a series of airport operations against trafficking schemes that use deceptive travel arrangements to send Filipinos abroad for bogus employment.
The BI warned that trafficking syndicates exploit social media, false job offers, misleading travel declarations and promises of high salaries to recruit Filipinos for overseas work. Some victims are ultimately exposed to forced labor, exploitation or fraudulent online operations.
