Immigration officers at the international airport in Cebu intercepted two suspected human trafficking victims as they attempted to leave with their visas and tickets hidden inside a tissue paper.

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David said that the two female passengers were apprehended before they could board a Philippine Airlines Express flight to Hong Kong.

David said the passengers initially claimed they would be vacationing in Hong Kong but later admitted that they are undocumented overseas workers bound for Korea and Jordan.

Both women did not have the required permits to work abroad from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

It was during the interview that the passengers reportedly produced their visas and plane tickets to Korea and Jordan which were hidden in the middle of a 10-pull tissue paper.
One of them said she was hired to work as a singer in Korea while the other said she was employed as a domestic helper in Jordan.

Meanwhile, David designated lawyer Brandon Enad as chief immigration supervisor of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).

Enad replaced immigration officer Nelson Gallentes who was reassigned to the bureau's border crossing station in Balabac, Palawan.

David said he intends to reshuffle the bureau's personnel assigned in the other airports as part of the bureau's program to energize its bureaucracy and deter corruption among its personnel.

He explained that the periodic reshuffle of the employees partly aims to prevent fraternization which is oftentimes a major source of corruption.

The BI chief also reported that since last year more than 300 new immigration officers were already hired by the bureau and deployed to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and other ports of entry.
The new BI personnel will surely bolster the bureau's capability in thwarting human trafficking and illegal recruitment.

Source:http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/metro-section/item/13047-bi-intercepts-two-human-trafficking-victims-in-cebu