Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Davao International Airport (DIA) rescued on Tuesday three victims of human trafficking recruited to work as entertainers in Singapore.
The BI immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) personnel reported that the trio were stopped by frontline officers after attempting to board a Scoot Airlines flight to Singapore.
According to BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval, two of the victims were in their 20s while one was merely 18 years old. Two of them were actually from Luzon, and travelled all the way to Davao for the trip.
They initially claimed to be working together, and are traveling for a holiday for five days. However, verification confirmed that they have been recruited to work as entertainers in Singapore.
One of them narrated how her neighbor in Davao introduced her to a Manila-based contact, who facilitated the illegal travel of the trio.
They stated that they did not pay anything for their recruitment, but were told that expenses of 5,000 SGD will be deducted from their salary.
Sandoval said the three victims were turned over to the inter-agency council against trafficking (IACAT) in DIA, who continued the investigation on their case.
