Condos used as 'living, working' hubs for trafficked victims —Risa

Residential buildings in the Philippines are being used as "living and working" facilities for trafficked foreigners recruited to perform scams on unknowing victims, Senator Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday.

According to Marisol Abdurhaman's report on "24 Oras", an Indonesian identified as Ridwan told of how he passed through the airport and brought to a building just five minutes away.

“Large condominium buildings are being repurposed to be used as living and working facilities for trafficked human beings, being forced to perform scams on hapless victims,” Hontiveros said.

“These trafficking victims are reportedly from Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, countries in Africa, and countries in South Asia,” she said.

Ridwan revealed how he was welcomed and escorted at the NAIA.

“There was an employee waiting for us after we went out to the tube. Even before the booth of Bureau of Quarantine,” Ridwan said.

Hontiveros called the authorities to tighten security as scammers became “more furious and intelligent.”

“We were brought to a condominium which was five minutes away. There were many security guards in the condominium,” Ridwan said.

“Fifteen minutes from the airport and probably 10 minutes away from the Philippine Senate. Right under our very noses, a humanitarian crisis is taking shape. A mass of desperate humanity,” Hontiveros said.

The senator also issued a stern warning to those accomplices of the human traffickers.

“You may suffer a penalty of life imprisonment with a fine of P5 million. This is frightening that these crimes happen in our country,” Hontiveros said. —NB, GMA Integrated News