The Bureau of Immigration (BI) noted the recurrence of illegal recruitment victims presenting fake overseas employment certificates (OEC).
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco on Thursday cited the case of a female passenger intercepted last July 18 after presenting a fake OEC.
An OEC is the basic requirement for departing overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and is issued by the Department of Migrant Workers.
The female passenger, 50 years old, was recruited to work as a household service worker in Hong Kong. She attempted to depart via a Cebu Pacific Air flight at the Clark International Airport before being intercepted by immigration personnel.
Further verifications with DMW officers at the airport confirmed that the document was indeed counterfeit.
“Our system is integrated with the DMW, making it easier for us to detect fake certificates,” said Tansingco.
He shared that the BI has had numerous meetings with the DMW to develop systems to make it easier for departing OFWs.
“It is the directive of President Marcos to ensure smooth and seamless processing for OFWs,” said Tansingco. “We are in full support of the DMW’s efforts, to protect our workers from exploitation,” he added.
The female victim claimed that her fake OEC was processed through a friend, and she was made to believe that it was legitimately processed through the DMW.
Her case was forwarded to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation and action against the supplier of the fake document.
