Human trafficking
DESPITE repeated warnings from the government, Filipinos, including professionals, continue to be victimized by highly-enterprising human traffickers.
No less than the commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Norman Tansingco, has expressed dismay that there are still hard-headed Filipinos.
This after alert immigration officers barred four trafficking victims, who posed as tourists, from leaving the country for Thailand last Saturday.
Commissioner Tansingco said the four were intercepted at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga.
Reports said that two of the victims, who are cousins, were recruited through Facebook to work in Koh Kong, Cambodia.
They then invited the two others to join them. The four were instructed to pose as tourists to Thailand for a vacation to deceive BI authorities.
“Ang pag-alis sa iligal na pamamaraan ay napakalaking risk, lalong lalo na’t alam natin ang kinahihinatnan ng maraming biktima,” said Tansingco.
We cannot blame people from seeking “greener pastures” abroad, “pero hindi sa pamamagitan ng tulong ng human traffickers.”
Like Commissioner Tansingco said, overseas jobseekers expose themselves to danger if they seek the help of illegal recruiters.”
The continued presence of human traffickers and illegal recruiters is acknowledged to be one of the major headaches of the government.
Thus, the government deserves the support of the people, including the jobseekers themselves, as it exerts efforts to meet the employment needs of the citizens.
