MANILA, Philippines — Eliminating human trafficking and illegal recruitment in the Philippines will require a concerted effort from all government agencies, said Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco.
Tansingco, in a statement on Wednesday, said that while BI can intercept victims during the screening process at ports, initiatives to stop trafficking must begin way before they reach that point.
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"Trafficking happens everywhere, in the barangays, in cities, and now even online," Tansingco said.
This came after Sen. Risa Hontiveros called for the revamp of the Bureau of Immigration while floating the possibility that some officials were assisting individuals affiliated with cryptocurrency scams that traffick Filipinos abroad.
“Does the syndicate have contacts within BI? Why is it not stopped?” Hontiveros said in January.
But Tansingco said that the bureau has already stepped up its efforts to combat human trafficking and has recently implemented a major organizational overhaul following the deactivation of the BI's port operations division.
BI deactivated its POD in February after the Department of Justice moved to reorganize and streamline the operational structure of their airport services.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Philippines is among the world's top sources of trafficked persons for forced labor and sexual exploitation.
Tansingco also expressed support for a House of Representatives resolution filed this week urging lawmakers to probe the fake job postings that lure Filipinos into going abroad, only to be forced into inhumane working conditions.
The BI has urged officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to look into the possible involvement of airline personnel in facilitating the departure of human trafficking victims.
Based on the monitoring of the BI, of the more than 32,000 Filipinos who deferred departure in 2022, 472 were “found to be victims of human trafficking or illegal recruitment” while 873 individuals misrepresented themselves or submitted fraudulent documents. — Cristina Chi with reports by Kristine Joy Patag