A female overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who was bound for the UAE was intercepted by immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after she presented fake travel documents.
Bureau of Immigration (BI) Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said that the OFW was offloaded and was nabbed by members of the BI’s travel control and enforcement unit at the NAIA Terminal 3 after she presented a fake clearance from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), reported Manila Standard.
He believes that the OFW, who was about to board a Cathay Pacific flight bound for Dubai, is a victim of human trafficking.
“It appears that the syndicates are now faking the stamp and signatures of POEA personnel at the airport in order to dupe immigration officers into believing that the employment papers of their victims are genuine,” Medina said.
The OFW confessed that she only got her overseas employment certificate (OEC), as well as her job contract and working visa, from her “handler” at NAIA only a few hours before her scheduled flight.
Medina also reminded OFWs with fake travel documents that “it will not escape the watchful eyes of our vigilant immigration officers at the airport.”
