19 Pinoy suspected tourist-workers intercepted at NAIA

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday reported that 19 Filipino suspected "tourist-workers," who had insufficient travel documents were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as they were about to leave for Italy and South Korea last month. The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) is now investigating the case of the 19 Filipinos who were barred from leaving the country on two separate occasions (May 16 and May 28). Benito Se, BI-Airport Operations Division head supervisor, said the Filipinos, who were not identified, pretended to be tourists but actually intended to work abroad. “It was evident from the results of secondary inspection conducted by our immigration officers that the passengers were victims of human trafficking. We had no choice but to disallow their departure,” BI Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said in a statement. The May 16 incident involved 13 passengers disguised as members of a religious group. They claimed that they were invited to attend the 7th World Families Meeting in Milan, Italy, a triennial international event hosted by the Vatican. A certain “archbishop” from the Orthodox Catholic Church in the Philippines (OCCP), whom the passengers claimed to be the one who facilitated their travel to Italy, accompanied them. When immigration officials sought the archbishop for questioning, he could not be found and apparently left the airport to evade investigation. He is now the subject of investigation by the IACAT. It also turned out during questioning that the passengers are actually Roman Catholics and not members of the OCCP. Korea-bound 'tourist workers' Meanwhile, David said the IACAT is also probing the case of six Filipino women bound for South Korea who were intercepted at the NAIA Terminal 1 last May 28. The women initially claimed they would be vacationing in Hong Kong but were prompted to admit during questioning that they were going to South Korea. They then presented their E-6 visas from the South Korean embassy and admitted that they were going there to work as nightclub entertainers. They did not have valid Philippine Overseas Employment Administration certificates. — B.L. Vergara /LBG/VVP, GMA News

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