Tansingco

Trafficking victim holding forged signature of DOJ exec ‘nabbed’

October 11, 2023 Jun I. Legaspi 287 views

OFFICERS of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) intercepted a female trafficking victim after she presented a document with a fake signature of a Department of Justice (DOJ) exec.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the 30-year-old victim presented herself for primary inspection at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in an attempt to depart via a Philippine Airlines flight to Singapore.

The victim initially claimed to be a DOJ employee working as an administrative staff and is set to travel to Singapore as a delegate for an official travel, together with Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty.

USec. Ty serves as the undersecretary-in-charge of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT). He is currently in Thailand attending a forum on people smuggling, trafficking in persons, and related transnational crime.

The victim presented a travel authority purportedly signed by Usec. Ty. However, officers noted inconsistencies in the signature which prompted them to verify with the DOJ.

It was later confirmed that the travel authority presented was fake and that the victim was actually recruited to work in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as an entertainer.

She allegedly paid 38,000 AED for her fake documents, which she will pay through salary deduction for two years. She admitted that her documents were just given to her at a fast food chain near the airport.

The victim was immediately turned over to the DOJ-IACAT, who vowed to pursue charges against the recruiters.

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