As the Ber months are here and more people are expected to travel abroad for vacations, AirAsia Philippines said Wednesday that it has joined hands with the Bureau of Immigration, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Manila International Airport Authority to fight human trafficking.

During AirAsia PH's PAA-TALK session, an internal talk series, the best techniques from BI, NBI and MIAA for identifying, managing, and profiling possible victims of human trafficking were presented and highlighted.

The airline considered the issue relevant despite the Philippines' continued standing as one of the top nations recognized by the United States for achieving the goal of ending human trafficking set forth by the State Department.

AirAsia PH Communications and Public Affairs country head first officer Steve Dailisan shares that AirAsia PH is one with the government in safeguarding Filipinos against human trafficking. There will be no room for complacency. To ensure the safety of their guests, they have 20,000 Allstars across ASEAN trained to identify signs of human trafficking during check-in procedures and onboard flights.

Dailisan added that data from the BI revealed that 6,000 Filipinos were suspected of having fallen victim to human trafficking in the first two months of 2023 alone. Of the said figure, only 0.6 percent were offloaded, while the rest continued with their journeys, ending in other ASEAN countries and the Middle East.

While MIAA Assistant General Manager for Security and Emergency Services Manuel Gonzales said that the international airport terminals, including NAIA Terminals 1 and 3, are the usual gateways used by human traffickers, who victimize mostly women and children, airport police are being trained to implement thorough inspections and surveillance.

Gonzalez added that they know that handling fraudulent travel documents happens before the victim enters the airport and even inside the terminal. They will be more vigilant and intensify their monitoring and policing to save more Filipinos from human trafficking.

BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval commended AirAsia's efforts to combat human trafficking. She said the face of human trafficking has changed throughout the years.