4 Pinays being trafficked to Lebanon rescued
Four women who were allegedly being trafficked to work in Lebanon were rescued by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
In a statement on Thursday, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said authorities intercepted one of the victims on April 21 while attempting to board a flight to Thailand, while the remaining three were already cleared for departure to Malaysia.
Tansingco said the victims initially disguised themselves as tourists visiting the countries but later confessed they were bound for Lebanon to work as household service workers.
They also said they were recruited by a certain “Helen” on Facebook, who provided them with travel documents and instructed them to queue for clearance at a specific immigration booth.
The BI chief said they had since relieved the immigration officer manning the booth of duty and are already conducting an investigation into the incident.
The agency also turned over the victims to the Inter-Agency Against Trafficking for the investigation and filing of cases against their recruiters. —VBL, GMA Integrated News