Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have stopped five female teenagers who pretended they were already adults from leaving the country to work abroad.

In a report to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, Immigration Deputy Commissioner and Port Operation Division Chief Marc Red Mariñas said the women who appeared to be minors attempted to board their flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia when intercepted at the NAIA Terminal 1.

Mariñas said this is a clear case of human and child trafficking involving a syndicate that sends young women to work abroad by letting them assume the identities of older women through falsification and tampering of their travel documents.

Mariñas disclosed all five female teenagers were in possession of valid overseas employment certificates, passport and employment contracts with working visas.

Mariñas reported they were evasive and gave inconsistent answers when asked about their ages and dates of birth during secondary interrogation.

The names of the five female teenagers were not revealed for their protection and because it is prohibited under anti-human trafficking laws.

Previous articlePeso weakens 53 to $1Next articleADB extends P50.32B loan to BBB infra projects Anthony Ching