PALO, Leyte — The government has uncovered a potential human trafficking scheme after the Department of Social Welfare and Development regional office in Eastern Visayas denied clearances to 12 minors traveling to Taiwan for a three-year scholarship program.

Lawyer Jonalyndie Chua, spokesperson of DSWD-8, said the 12 senior high school students, 11 from Southern Leyte and one from Ormoc City, were denied Minor Traveling Abroad (MTA) clearances due to incomplete documents.

Chua said the minors sought MTA clearances at the DSWD regional office accompanied by their parents and immediate relatives.

However, the families of the minors admitted that no family members would be traveling with them; instead, they would be accompanied by a foreign national from the scholarship provider.

“The minors are traveling abroad accompanied only by a foreign national who is not known to the minors,” she said.

“We disapproved the 12 applications because they were not able to complete their documents,” Chua explained, citing the guidelines for minors traveling abroad for scholarship programs.

She noted that students traveling abroad for scholarships must present an admission notice, a certificate of enrollment, and they should also be able to present a student visa.

Missing enrollment certificate

However, the applicants were unable to present enrollment certificates and submitted permanent resident visas instead of student visas. Of the 12 applicants, only one was able to present an affidavit of support stating that his family would be supporting him while he was in the scholarship program.

“The guidelines are set to protect the children from trafficking,” Chua said.

She added that DSWD-8 also coordinated with the Department of Education regional office to learn more about the scholarship program but was informed that the agency had no knowledge of it.

Chua mentioned other regions like Central Luzon reported a similar incident and the minors were not issued MTAs.

DSWD-8 will request the Regional Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Trafficking (RIACAT) to convene and dig deeper into the matter.

“This is not only a concern of the DSWD. Child protection is a matter of the whole of society from LGUs to national government agencies and other stakeholders,” she said.