The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday expressed concern over the increasing number of Filipino victims of human trafficking who are unlawfully leaving the country to work overseas for “POGO-like” organizations through backdoor routes.

Although the BI has been aggressively bolstering border security procedures, the agency stressed that in order to stop unlawful departures via other routes, there must be greater coordination with local authorities.

This comes as BI commissioner Atty. Joel Anthony Viado reported that three victims of human trafficking have been repatriated after being tricked into working as love scammers.

The victims were two females and one male who returned to the country on 16 March on board a Philippine Airlines flight from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Viado claimed that they reportedly sought help from the Philippine embassy after experiencing physical assault and torture by their employers for more than two months. After arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1, the victims were assisted by the National Bureau of Investigation, which is initiating an inquiry against their recruiters.

According to the initial findings, none of the three victims had an official record of departing the Philippines. However, the three victims revealed that they took a small boat from Jolo, Sulu to exit the country and travel to Sabah, Malaysia, in order to leave the country illegally.