A 27-year-old woman claiming to be an overseas Filipino worker was intercepted by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) at NAIA Terminal 3 after the Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) she presented was discovered to be counterfeit.
According to BI, the woman was preparing to fly to Hong Kong on December 30, with a connecting flight to Malaysia, when she furnished her OEC as part of her travel documentation.
However, the Bureau of Immigration-Department of Migrant Workers verification system detected irregularities, indicating that the OEC was not registered. Further investigation revealed that the OEC was issued under another person’s name.
During questioning, the passenger disclosed that she had solicited a friend to assist her in processing the OEC. This friend had referred her to a person in Parañaque, to whom she submitted her documents and paid approximately P10,000 for the counterfeit certificate.
“The use of our joint verification system with the DMW has proven crucial in detecting fraudulent documents. The BI remains committed to protecting Filipinos by intercepting such attempts to use fake OECs,” said BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado, urging OFWs to process their documents through proper channels and verify their job offers with DMW.
The intercepted passenger has been referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation and potential charges against her recruiter, the BI said.
