The Bureau of Immigration on Wednesday, October 11, intercepted a female trafficking victim after presenting a document with a fake signature of a Department of Justice (DOJ) officer.
According to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the 30-year-old victim claimed to be a DOJ employee working as administrative staff and was set to travel to Singapore as a delegate for official travel, together with Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty.
BI said the victim presented herself for primary inspection at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 in an attempt to depart via a Philippine Airlines flight.
The immigration bureau said the female showed a travel authority purportedly signed by USEC. Ty. However, officers noted inconsistencies in the signature, which prompted them to verify with the DOJ.
BI confirmed the travel authority presented was fake and that the victim was actually recruited to work in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as an entertainer.
The victim allegedly paid 38,000 AED for her fake documents, which she would pay for two years through salary deduction.
Later on, she confessed that she had recently received her documents from a fast food restaurant close to the airport.
“The fake documents presented in this case is ridiculous,” said Tansingco.
“Faking the signature of the USec-in-Charge of IACAT to avoid scrutiny is the idea of these illegal recruiters and human traffickers who will not stop finding ways to evade inspection,” he added.
BI said that the victim was immediately turned over to the DOJ-IACAT.
