The immigration bureau has intercepted three individuals who attempted to misrepresent themselves as government employees in an apparent bid to engage in illegal activities.
Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco stated Sunday in a statement that the incident occurred on July 9. Three unnamed females presented themselves for primary immigration inspection at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
He said that a report from their Travel Control and Enforcement Unit claimed that the trio was supposed to depart for Jeju Island, South Korea, on a Scoot Airlines flight.
They presented travel authorities, which indicated that they were employees of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). Travel authorities are official documents that allow government employees to travel for official business or personal reasons.
However, the inconsistencies in the three individuals’ statements aroused suspicion among the immigration officers, who decided to conduct further verification of their documents. Subsequently, the travelers confessed that they had purchased the documents from a stall in Quiapo, Manila, highlighting a potential case of document forgery.
“During the interview, they admitted that they paid P150,000 to a contact they met through Facebook to process their documents,” said Tansingco.
“One of them mentioned talking to several agents for assistance,” he added.
The revelations made by the three travelers, he explained, raised concerns about human trafficking and illegal recruitment.
As a result, their case has been handed over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation.
