The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Monday, November 11, that it intercepted two illegal recruiters who were carrying three Filipinas to traffic and employ as sex workers in Taiwan.
According to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, BI personnel stopped the three victims along with two suspected couriers before they could board a Cebu Pacific Air aircraft to Taipei at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
The five passengers were said to be subjected to further screening after giving "inconsistent answers" to the questions of immigration officers.
“We commend our immigration officers for successfully foiling this attempt to traffic these women who were lured to make a living as sex workers,” the BI chief said.
Tansingco added that the incident was a "clear case of human trafficking that the BI must combat to protect the well-being of Filipino women".
Citing the BI’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) report, he said that the women initially claimed they were freelance models who were traveling to Taipei for a basic training course on the Chinese language.
The women later confessed to authorities that they were recruited by someone on Facebook who offered them jobs as short-term sex workers for foreign customers in Taiwan.
Authorities found out that the two female companions were the recruiters who arranged their travel and processed their documents.
"All five passengers were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation and the filing of appropriate charges against the recruiters," the BI chief said.
