The Bureau of Immigration is not letting its guard down due to the growing number of Filipinos lured by high salary offered by suspected syndicate to work abroad but ended up victims of human trafficking.

It stressed that the issue of human trafficking and illegal recruitment is real and happening every day, with no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also expressing his concern over the increasing number of victims of trafficking.

Proof of this are numerous young urban professionals with good travel records who are gainfully employed and who are graduates of good schools who have been victimized by a cryptocurrency scam syndicate that transports them to Myanmar and other Asian countries.

All victims were promised a salary of 1,000 USD per month but were forced to scam Westerners. If they were unable to reach their quota, they were subjected to corporal punishment.

A total of 32,404 Filipinos were deferred from departure, and 472 of them were found to be victims of human trafficking or illegal recruitment in 2022.

The number also includes 873 who misrepresented themselves or presented fraudulent documents, while at least 10 have been found to be either underage or minors, attempting to depart to work abroad.

On the other hand, a social media post recently made rounds on online platform TikTok where a Filipina passenger recounted her unpleasant experience with immigration personnel in December 2022.
She shared how she was asked numerous questions that she deemed irrelevant.

The BI immediately conducted an investigation and asked the immigration officer involved for a full report on the incident.

Eventually, the said passenger was allowed to travel after filling out the Border Control Questionnaire and undergoing secondary inspection.

The agency has apologized for the inconvenience it caused the Filipina passenger and other Filipino passengers and added that the bureau has initiated coordination with popular social media platforms to discuss ways to combat this issue.

The BI is one of the numerous agencies of the government tasked with combating trafficking. The BI seeks consideration and understanding as the agency is constrained to implement strict measures to assess departing passengers.

Likewise, the bureau management has reminded its personnel to conduct their inspections professionally and in an efficient manner to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

It also urges netizens to report concerns about their personnel to the Immigration Helpline PH page on Facebook, so that they can immediately take action to address the said concerns.

With Anthony Ching