immigration chief alarmed over cases of underage trafficking victims
Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado expressed alarm over the number of underage Filipinas intercepted while attempting to leave for domestic work abroad despite being below the required deployment age.
The concern was raised following the recent interception of a female victim at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 who attempted to depart for Riyadh, KSA, via Hong Kong on board a Cathay Pacific flight last February 23 for alleged employment as a domestic helper.
According to BI’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES), the victim initially claimed that she was 24 years old, which would qualify her for deployment as a domestic worker abroad.
However, inconsistencies in her statements prompted officers to refer her to secondary inspection for further questioning.
She presented a PSA birth certificate verified as genuine by the BI Anti-Fraud Section, but officers noted discrepancies in her statements, including her claim that she was the sixth child when the document indicated she was the third.
“Her true age was revealed through her child’s birth certificate, which showed she was born in 2004, making her only 21 years old and below the required deployment age,” Viado said.
Viado warned that trafficking syndicates often coach young Filipinas to falsify their personal information in order to evade government safeguards on overseas domestic worker deployment.
He emphasized that current OFW regulations require Filipino domestic workers bound for destinations such as Saudi Arabia to be at least 24 years old.
“We are seeing a disturbing trend where trafficking syndicates target young and vulnerable individuals, including minors, and coach them to falsify personal information or conceal their true age to enable illegal deployment abroad,” Viado said.
Viado stressed that the BI will remain relentless in its efforts to detect and stop trafficking attempts at the country’s borders and will coordinate closely with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and other partner agencies to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.
