MANILA, Philippines—Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado expressed his concern on reports that 54 of the Filipino victims of human trafficking repatriated from Myanmar possibly left via backdoor.
Viado urged stricter monitoring of illegal exit points in the country’s southern borders, where traffickers use small boats to secretly transport victims abroad. He said that tighter regulations would ensure that agencies comply with President Ferdinand ‘Bong Bong’ Marcos Jr.’s drive to protect our country’s borders.
“I think this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Viado. “We have long been raising this concern, and it’s about time that this be acknowledged and addressed, to prevent more kababayans from being victimized by this syndicate,” he added.
The BI earlier hailed the arrest of alias ‘Fiona’ by the Philippine National Police in Zamboanga. Alias ‘Fiona’ has been tagged as the facilitator for the illegal departure of trafficking victims via small boats.
Also arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation was alias ‘Jon Jon’, who was among the 206 repatriated from scam hubs in Myawaddy, Myanmar. Alias ‘Jon Jon’ initially claimed to be a victim himself, but his colleagues positively identified him as one of the recruiters for the company.
Previously, the interagency council against trafficking released a study on backdoor exits in relation to trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants by sea. In their study, they recommended that local government units (LGUs) as well as local law enforcement agencies (LEAs) strengthen surveillance in areas of concern.
Apart from this, Viado said he will recommend to lawmakers to study the imposition of legal sanctions against Filipinos who depart the country illegally.
“The country has no specific law penalizing illegal departures. Cases may fall under related violations such as falsification of public documents or tampering under the Philippine Passport Act,” said Viado. “But criminalizing illegal exits would serve as a strong deterrent to traffickers and would make victims think twice in accepting such offers,” he added. #
