Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday shared a personal account of a Filipino woman who was trafficked into Syria, including how she was able to make it past immigration counters through the aid of Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers.
“Mukhang kasabwat na naman ang mga opisyal ng BI sa ilegal na kalakal. Lahat na lang ng pwedeng pagperahan sa airport, mukhang pinasok na ng mga korap na BI officers. Ilang mutation ng pastillas scam pa ang hindi natin alam?, ” Hontiveros asked.
The trafficked woman, “Alice,” said she was promised work in Dubai, but found out during a stopover in Malaysia that she was, in fact, going to Syria. “Alice” also recounted how her recruiter, named Ana, would pay BI officers who then met “Alice,” and other trafficked women, at the counter number 1 immigration desk in the airport.
“Naririnig ko … ‘Magbayad muna si Ana sa immigration bago palusutin ang mga tao ninyo.’ … [Ang bayad] bawat isa ay P50,000. Iba pa sasalubong sa gate, iba pa yung line number 1 … babae yung nasa counter 1. Iba sumalubong sakin pagkatapos ko sa gate, counter 1, and then hanggang makarating ng eroplano, meron din,” she shared.
“Habang may pinipirmahan ka doon sa gate na white paper, ipipila mo sa counter number 1, paglampas mo sa no. 1, may iba naman sasalubong sayo sa eroplano,” she added, clarifying that all these are BI employees.
Besides her illegal exit from the country, “Alice” also shared that her Syrian employer would hurt her. She would be held down by body guards of her employer, who is said to be a relative of the Syrian president, while being mauled.
“Five months ko dito [sa Syria], nakaranas ako ng pananakit kasi nagpaalam ako na uuwi ako kaya nagalit sila …Hinahawak, tinatadyakan, sampal, sabunot, kaladlad,” she said.
Due to these revelations, Hontiveros said that she will officially request the BI to furnish the names of the immigration officers who stamped “Alice”’s passport, and noted that this would constitute a violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
“Malaki-laki ang penalty dito at non bailable. This is a case of large-scale trafficking, and trafficking in syndicate. Life imprisonment ang parusa dito,” the senator added.
Hontiveros said that her office has two other testimonies of trafficked women that they will reveal in a Senate hearing. She said the women were indubitably trafficked, as they never consented to being brought to Syria and they were held against their will in various ways and some even abused.
“Pinangakuan din ang iba ng sweldo na at least $400, pero $200 lang ang natanggap nila. Samu’t saring klase na ang abuso ang naranasan nila. Tapos mukhang sangkot pa ang sarili nating opisyal sa pagpapahamak sa kanila. Our immigration officers seem to be sending our women into slavery,” Hontiveros said.
“I am calling the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice to attend to this matter immediately. In the middle of a global pandemic, our kababayans are stuck in a war-torn country. Nangako din sila na makikipagtulungan sila sa gubyerno para labanan ang mga illegal syndicates. Our government should stop at nothing — I will stop at nothing — to get these women home,” the senator concluded.
Meanwhile, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the bureau will fully support the investigation of Sen. Hontiveros and the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality on the trafficking of Filipinas.
The BI is part of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), and is committed in its duty as the last line of defense in protecting Filipinos from syndicates committing illegal recruitment and human trafficking.
“This investigation is another step towards eradicating human trafficking from our country by finding its root cause, as well as cutting down any growth that may have emerged from this societal weed,” Commissioner Morente said in a statement.
He said the BI has been constantly fighting the battle against trafficking for more than a decade, when they initially implemented strict departure formalities for Filipino citizens.
“As proven in the past, we will not hesitate to put to justice any immigration personnel implicated in trafficking schemes,” he added.
Through the investigation of the Senate committee, the Department of Justice, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Ombudsman, as well as internal investigations, 86 personnel have recently been suspended and are facing charges for allegedly being involved in anomalous activities.
“We have put measures in place to prevent illegal activities occurring amongst our ranks. Apart from internal checks and balances, several government agencies work hand in hand with the BI in protecting our fellow Filipinos from trafficking.”
Currently, Morente said they are implementing the IACAT Revised Guidelines on Departure Formalities for International-Bound Passengers (DOJ Memorandum Circular No. 036 dated 15 June 2015).
He said the Philippines has already been upgraded and retained its Tier 1 ranking for the fifth year in a row in the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report. A Tier 1 rating means the Philippines has demonstrated serious and sustained efforts to combat the crime. “In fact, we are the forerunner in the South East Asian region when it comes to efforts against human trafficking.”
In 2019, more than 38,000 were deferred departure as part of the campaign against human trafficking and illegal recruitment. More than 400 of these have been turned over to the IACAT for having elements of human trafficking, to be able to assist them in filing charges against their recruiters.
In 2020, the BI deferred the departure of close to 12,000 Filipinos. The drop is a result of travel restrictions set and international flight suspensions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite this, the BI remains relentless in its pursuit to eliminate human trafficking, with it being considered a modern-day form of slavery.
(With photo from pna.gov.ph)