BI stops six Jordan-bound trafficking victims posing as pilgrims
Six Filipinos bound for Jordan who pretend to be pilgrims were stopped at NAIA Terminal 1 on Thursday. (Photo from Bureau of Immigration)
Daily TribuneSix Filipinos bound for Jordan who pretend to be pilgrims were stopped at NAIA Terminal 1 on Thursday. (Photo from Bureau of Immigration)
Six Filipinos were stopped from leaving the country on Thursday by Bureau of Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). The individuals were posing as pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land.
According to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the passengers were about to board a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Amman, Jordan, when they were stopped at NAIA Terminal 1 by an officer from the BI's Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Unit (I-PROBES).
Tansingco said that they all claimed to be traveling together for a pilgrimage, but they were unaware of their travel itinerary. They were not familiar with each other.
It was learned by the Bureau that two of the passengers were previously stopped from boarding their flight last September after BI officers deferred their departure for having numerous inconsistencies in their statements and documentation.
The BI chief added that their I-PROBES also found that the two passengers were supposed to join a group of 14 "pilgrims" who left the country on 27 September. Ten of them never returned and are now presumably working abroad.
The BI verified that the group was going to Jordan in search of work during the secondary inspection. The passengers claimed that a male pastor whom they didn't know set up their travel. They gave him a substantial payment—between P75,000 and P150,000—for the privilege.
The said pastor was the same person who was pinpointed by the "pilgrims" who left last September as the one who arranged their purported pilgrimage.
Tansingco said that the case has been forwarded to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT). The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), as part of the IACAT, is set to continue the investigation against the modus.
It can be recalled that in 2011, six Lebanon-bound Filipinas were intercepted by the BI after posing as nuns. They were reportedly told by their recruiter to dress up like nuns to evade questioning. They admitted that they were actually departing to work as household service workers in Lebanon.