Immigration stamp counterfeiters fall

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday hailed the apprehension of three members of a syndicate who forged immigration stamps to traffic Filipinos overseas.

BI commissioner Joel Anthony Viado disclosed that the suspects were arrested last Saturday for the illegal facilitation of an aspiring overseas worker at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.

He narrated that the three suspects were reportedly facing charges for violation of Article 172, or falsification by private individuals and use of falsified documents, and Article 177, or usurpation of authority or official functions, of the Revised Penal Code.

Meantime, charges for violation of Republic Act 11862, or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022, are also being considered.

Since July of this year, at least 21 instances of fraudulent immigration stamp use have been reported to the agency and based on the reports, the victims paid the syndicate’s as much as P200,000 for its illicit services.

Pretending to be affiliated with the BI, the syndicate offers its services online and meets its victims in one of the stores located within or near NAIA and after obtaining their victim’s passport and boarding pass, the suspects would return it bearing a fake immigration departure stamp.

The suspects would claim to have immigration cohorts and would instruct the innocent victim to proceed directly to immigration clearance.

However, upon verification, immigration officers would find the fake stamp in the victim’s passport, preventing them from boarding their flight.

Viado cited the instance of a 30-year-old man named “Ben” who tried to board a flight to Dubai at NAIA Terminal 3 last 6 November where immigration officials discovered that he was trying to leave the country to work abroad illegally after being stopped for having a fake stamp on his passport.

On 15 November BI officers also intercepted a certain “Ana,” a 32-year-old Filipina, who also presented herself as a tourist traveling to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, at the NAIA Terminal 3. BI officers likewise found a fake stamp on her passport, and later, she confirmed that she was illegally recruited to work in an online casino in Cambodia.

All the victims were immediately turned over to the Interagency Council Against Trafficking for further investigations on their facilitators.

The BI chief also thanked the MIAA Airport Police Department Police Intelligence and Investigation Division, which pursued the case, which led to the arrest of the three suspects.

Viado once again warned the public that cases of falsification and tampering with passports will not pass as immigration officers undergo rigorous training in document fraud detection. He added that they have a state-of-the-art forensic document laboratory that can check for security features that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye.

He added that they have received reports that charges have also been filed against the alias “Ana,” who allowed those syndicates to put a fake stamp on her passport. Since there is already falsification of public documents, those who knowingly permit this to occur may also be charged.