Immigration blows lid off ‘pasabuy’ seller

An illegal recruitment victim pretending to be a pasabuy seller to work illegally in Europe was intercepted by alert immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport intercepted another Pinay victim of illegal last Monday, 6 November.

According to the BI-NAIA, the 36-year-old Pinay attempted to board a Philippine Airlines flight at NAIA Terminal 1 bound for Hong Kong, claiming that she was going shopping for her pasabuy and ukay-ukay businesses. She also claimed to be employed by a nearby clothing firm and showed a supposed job certificate from her place of employment.

However, the BI officers at the primary inspection reported numerous inconsistencies in her travel; hence, she was referred for secondary inspection.

The Pinay passenger revealed during the secondary inspection that she had received her travel documents over Facebook Messenger, and that she had presented bogus work documents.

BI-NAIA also found a Malta employment visa on her passport, despite her initial claim that she was traveling for tourism purposes.

She also admitted that she was offered to work illegally as a caregiver in Malta through a job-hunting website.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco warned all travelers not to accept online offers to work abroad without going through the legal process.

Tansingco highlighted numerous repatriations of overseas workers who met difficulties abroad, with many of them not receiving the salaries promised  them.

The female victim was immediately turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance in filing cases against her illegal recruiter.