Pasay City: Two women, suspected to be victims of human trafficking, were recently prevented from boarding their flight to Singapore at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City.

According to Philippines News Agency, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported that its Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) intervened on June 18 after noticing discrepancies during the initial inspection of the two women, aged 32 and 48. The women were stopped during the primary inspection due to their inability to answer basic travel questions, conflicting travel itineraries, and inconsistent statements, which led to their referral for a secondary inspection.

The women initially identified themselves as close friends traveling to Singapore for tourism. However, further questioning revealed that their intended destination was Albania, where they had been recruited to work as household service workers with a promised monthly salary of £500, approximately PHP38,000.

The BI disclosed that the women were contacted by a recruiter through a Facebook job posting, with all travel and employment arrangements coordinated via WhatsApp. After the discovery, both women were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation and the filing of charges against their recruiter.

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado cautioned the public about the risks of deceptive overseas job offers. He highlighted the persistence of online illegal recruitment schemes that lure workers with appealing offers but often result in exploitative working conditions. Viado emphasized the importance of consulting official government agencies before accepting any overseas job offers to avoid falling victim to such schemes.