Cousins posed as tourists to work in pseudo-call centers

Commissioner Norman Tansingco of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) voiced his disappointment on Sunday afternoon following the interception of four more victims of human trafficking who were posing as tourists.

After attempting to board a Cebu Pacific flight for Bangkok on 17 February, the victims (three females and one male) were intercepted at the Clark International Airport (CIA), according to the reports of the BI's Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES).

Two victims were reported to be cousins who recruited them to work in Koh Kong, Cambodia, using Facebook. They also invited two other victims to come to the workplace with them, and rumors circulated that they were told to pretend to be tourists in Thailand in order to deceive the immigration officials.

The victims also admitted that they were offered a job as a non-voice customer service representative with a monthly salary of around US$800, along with free food and accommodation.

“Paulit-ulit nalang,” said Tansingco. “These individuals have good backgrounds and are tech-savvy, yet they chose to be blinded by the offers of these syndicates,” said Tansingco.

According to the BI chief, there have been hundreds of repatriates who were recruited using the exact same modus but ended up working in scam hubs with low salaries and being physically abused.

“Hindi ba sila natatakot? Ang pag-alis sa iligal na pamamaraan ay napakalaking risk; lalong lalo na’t alam na natin ang kinahihinatnan ng maraming biktima,” Tansingco added.

BI shared that earlier this year, our government repatriated a couple who were recruited under similar terms and ended up detained and subjected to physical abuse by their employers. They were also made to pay nearly P800,000 to be released by their company.

The four victims were turned over to the CIA Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (CIA-IACAT) for assistance in filing cases against their recruiters.