The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced that its officers at the Zamboanga International Seaport (ZIS) rescued two Filipina victims of human trafficking.
In a report to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, BI Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU) head Ann Camille Mina shared that the two victims, aged 43 and 40, attempted to depart to Sandakan, Sabah via MV Antonia I.
Both initially claimed that they were traveling for a vacation separately, but upon further inspection admitted that they were bound for Lebanon to work as household service workers.
The two flew from Manila to Zamboanga, where they were instructed to ride the vessel to Sandakan.
They stated that they were instructed to stay in Malaysia for one day while waiting for their visa, before they were to fly out to Lebanon.
“These traffickers are now attempting to use other ports to evade strict security checks, thinking we have no presence there,” said Tansingco. “As part of the IACAT, it is our duty to intercept such cases in order to protect our kababayans from harm,” he added.
The two were turned over to the Zamboanga Sea-Based Anti-Trafficking Task Force of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for assistance in filing cases against their recruiters. (JERRY S. TAN)
