The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is warning the public about a new human trafficking scheme where victims are made to pretend they’re going on a church mission trip.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado expressed his disappointment after receiving reports that traffickers are now using religion as a cover to avoid being caught.
According to Viado, immigration officers at NAIA Terminal 3 intercepted three individuals last April 1 who were pretending to be part of a church missionary group.
The BI’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) reported that the three women—aged 23, 25, and 50—were supposed to board a Scoot Airlines flight to Singapore, then connect to Thailand.
The recruiter and her companions claimed they were full-time church volunteers heading to Thailand for a mission. But immigration officers found inconsistencies in their documents, which led to further questioning.
Eventually, the two younger women admitted that they were not missionaries at all, but licensed teachers who had been recruited for illegal jobs in Thailand.
They confessed they were recruited by the woman traveling with them, who introduced herself as the “founder and preacher” of their church.
The victims also shared that they didn’t even have jobs waiting for them in Thailand—they were just told to prepare documents like transcripts, in case a school decided to hire them later.
Records showed that the recruiter had already traveled to Thailand before and had left the country with other people she also claimed were her churchmates. None of them returned.
“This is similar to the old ‘Bitbit’ scheme where an experienced traveler pretends to be part of a group and uses fake stories to bring people out of the country for illegal work,” Viado explained.
The two victims were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for help.
Viado reminded the public that back in 2011, six Filipinas heading to Lebanon posed as nuns just to avoid suspicion. It was later revealed they were also planning to work there illegally.
Meanwhile, Viado praised the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for quickly arresting the recruiter on April 3, just days after the incident. The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) confirmed that the recruiter is not licensed to send workers abroad.
“Thanks to the joint efforts of the BI, NBI, and IACAT, we’re able to catch more traffickers,” Viado said. “Every arrest means fewer victims. We want to make sure our kababayan are protected from people who take advantage of their hopes and dreams,” he added.