114 minors barred at NAIA

Human traffickers supply fake documents.

Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) yesterday expressed alarm over the increasing number of underage Filipinas trying to work abroad using fake travel documents.

BI OIC Deputy Commissioner and Port Operations Division Chief Marc Red Mariñas said that since June, a total of 114 girls below 21 years old were stopped from leaving or were offloaded from their flight at the NAIA for posing as adults.

Mariñas reported to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente that the apprehended passengers presented passports claiming they were adults, along with spurious employment permits, working visas and job contracts.

“It is evident that these young women were victimized by syndicates that specialize in the procurement of documents to make it appear they are old enough to work abroad when in fact they are not,” Mariñas said.

Last month the Manila Police District (MPD) rescued more than 40 women, a number of them minors, during a raid in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

The minors were illegally recruited from Mindanao and offered work as household service workers in Saudi Arabia.

Morente ordered immigration officers at the NAIA to further tighten the screening of all departing Filipinos to make sure they are presenting legitimate documents.

In June alone, BI officers at the NAIA barred 67 OFW from leaving the country for being minors, contrary to the age shown in their passports.