OFWs dressed as 'nuns' barred at NAIA

abs-cbnNEWS.com


MANILA, Philippines – Immigration authorities stopped 6 Filipino overseas workers disguised as nuns from leaving the country.

Bureau of Immigration (BI) officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma said the women were about to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Hong Kong Thursday night when they were stopped at the departure area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3).

Ledesma said the OFWs planned to take a connecting flight to Beirut despite a long standing government ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to the said Middle Eastern country.

He said the women are victims of illegal recruiters “who will not stop using all tricks and employ every scheme to circumvent our ban on the departure of undocumented OFWs.”

In a press statement, the BI said the OFWs were caught after one of them approached the BI counter and was referred by the immigration officer on-duty to his superiors for secondary inspection.

While she was being questioned, members of the BI travel control enforcement unit (TCEU) noticed the presence of 5 other women dressed as nuns who were loitering outside the immigration area premises as if waiting for a cue.

They, too, were invited for questioning. Although they have similar documents, it turned out that the ‘nun’s did not know each other.

The women claimed to be missionaries from the St. Joseph Laud Sta. Maria congregation in Baguio City and alleged that they will attend a 3-day seminar in Hong Kong. They presented a certification purportedly issued by their parish priest.

The agency said the women’s personal appearance gave them away. Immigration officers noticed that one of them was wearing red shoes, a colorful handbag and wore her 'costume' improperly.

They later admitted that they were bound for Lebanon and named a certain “Philip” as their recruiter who brought them to the airport onboard 2 vehicles.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more