29 April 2024 — A female victim, known by the alias “Nina”, was rescued by immigration personnel at the Davao International Airport after a male trafficker attempted to escort her out of the country.
Nina was intercepted while attempting to board a Scoot Airlines flight to Singapore on Saturday afternoon. Initially claiming to be traveling as a tourist with her employer, Nina later admitted that she had been recruited to work as a household service worker in the United Arab Emirates for an undisclosed amount.
She revealed that her male companion had instructed her to state that she was traveling abroad as his personal house helper for a short vacation. Upon verification of the man’s records, it was discovered that he had previously sponsored a trip with another woman, who failed to return on her declared return date. The man admitted to having escorted another female victim, who left for Singapore but subsequently transferred to Thailand.
The Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) suspects that the man was recruiting Filipinos to work in the Middle East, only to leave his victims stranded.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco issued a public warning against such schemes, stating, “These traffickers dupe victims into agreeing to such schemes, only to leave them penniless in the middle of an unfamiliar foreign country. Aspiring workers should never agree to such arrangements.”
Both Nina and the male escort were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT). The male escort now faces charges of human trafficking related to the incident.
Commissioner Tansingco expressed gratitude to the IACAT for their active pursuit of cases against traffickers, saying, “It makes our job meaningful because we know that these escorts are finally put behind bars.”