Remulla asks NBI to investigate fake passes at BI

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe the use of fake stamps at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in facilitating the departure of trafficked individuals.

“We’re already investigating that. We’re asking the NBI to investigate it,” Remulla said during an ambush interview on Thursday.

During a Senate hearing on Tuesday, a human trafficking victim revealed that someone at the airport would escort them and expedite their departure using fake exit stamps to bypass the BI

Alias Paolo said he had been recruited to work as a customer service representative in Thailand but found out he would be sent to work as a scammer in Myanmar.

Remulla said they are using the hearing as the starting point.

“Well, ‘yung findings ng hearing pa rin ang aming— we’re making the starting point of the investigation because the hearings were very revealing as to the modus operandi,” he said.

(Well, the findings of the hearing are our— we’re making [that] the starting point of the investigation because the hearings were very revealing as to the modus operandi.)

Earlier, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said it is not dismissing the possible involvement of its personnel in the plot.

For her part, Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said they have yet to find links tying BI personnel to the issue, but that they are open to an investigation.

Sandoval said the BI also believes that the individuals or syndicate behind the alleged use of fake passes may be in cahoots with airport personnel. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News