Travel firm accused of releasing fake plane tickets to OFWs

Several overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have accused a Davao City-based travel agency of releasing bogus airplane tickets to them, a report by GMA Davao's Tek Ocampo on "24 Oras" said Monday.
The 60 OFWs and their relatives were also dismayed after they found out that the Double A Travel Services had already closed.
Maribel Poliquit, who was supposed to return to Japan on January 5 with her family, said they only learned their tickets were fake at the airport's check-in counter.
Poliquit said she is now worried about her delayed return to Japan since her job is already waiting for her.
"Napakahirap talagang maghanap ng pera para makabalik ng Japan. Isa pa, ang trabaho namin dun, naghihintay na," she said.
The report said many victims aired their grievances against the travel agency on social media, among them Myca Miolata, who was also a sub-agent of the agency.
Miolata said she was forced to leave Japan and return to the Philippines since her name was being linked to the controversy. She said she was able to talk to the agency's owner, Arlyn Llurca Palantar, over the issue.
"Rason niya is hindi talaga promo yun pero nahihiya na siya kasi yun na ang na-promise na price sa amin," she said.
"Alam niyo naman po na biktima rin ako. Gusto ko lang po sana sabihin sa inyo na wala akong pera talaga. Binenta ko na lahat," Miolata added.
A sum of P800,000 were remitted to Palantar to arrange the OFWs' airfare, the report said.
Meanwhile, initial investigations showed the Double A Travel Services had failed to renew its accreditation from the Department of Tourism since 2015.
Palantar has yet to issue a statement on the alleged fake plane tickets. —Joseph Tristan Roxas/KBK, GMA News

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