Senate Employees Discovered Facilitating Trafficking Victims

Manila — Bureau of Immigration (BI) Officers discovered an attempt to traffic three female victims to illegally work as domestic helpers in China last June 26.

The victims, whose names are withheld for their safety, attempted to depart for China via Cathay Pacific Flight No. CX904.

They were escorted by a certain Wilma Manalo and Ana Tomarong, who both claimed employees of the Senate of the Philippines. Ms. Tomarong claimed to be the employer of two of the victims, while Ms. Manalo claimed to be their neighbor.

Upon inspection, Travel Control and Enforcement Unit Officers Vincent Estacio, Rey Daquipil, and Justin Jimenez noticed major inconsistencies in their statements.

The three victims later admitted that they did not know Tomarong, and they were recruited by Manalo to work as domestic helpers in China despite having only tourist visas and lacking clearance from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

They were likewise promised a P30,000 salary, but were told they each needed to pay a P20,000 ‘debt’ to their recruiters for six months.

“The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act states that recruiting and transporting workers by means of fraud and deception is punishable by law,” said Immigration Commissioner Siegfred Mison. “Our Immigration Officers are trained to detect any such attempt, and we will make sure that we do our duty to protect Filipinos from human trafficking and illegal recruitment syndicates,” he added.

All three victims, including Manalo and Tomorong, were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation.