BI intercepted 4 victims of fake CFO certificates — spox

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has intercepted four victims of fake Commission on Filipinos Overseas-Guidance and Counseling Program (CFO-GCP) certificates at airports, the agency’s spokesperson said Tuesday.

During the public briefing, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said the certificates are requirements of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for those seeking to go abroad to meet or marry their foreign spouse or partners.

“Sa nakaraang linggo nakapagrecord na po tayo ng dalawang biktima but very fresh po, kahapon lamang, there are another two victims na na-intercept po ng ating mga tauhan,” Sandoval said.

(Last week, we recorded two victims, but very fresh, only yesterday, our personnel intercepted another two.)

“Nakikita po natin that it’s really increasing at mukhang marami-rami po tayong mga kababayan na naloloko,” she added.

(We can really see that it’s increasing and it seems that many of our countrymen are being scammed.)

According to Sandoval, two of the victims were intercepted at the Clark International Airport while the other two were intercepted at the Cebu International Airport.

“So it’s obvious that they’re trying to use different airports para po makaalis itong mga naloloko po nilang biktima,” the spokesperson said.

(It’s really obvious that they are using different airports to allow these victims to fly.)

Meanwhile, she said the victims have been turned over to the IACAT, which will assist them in filing cases against their recruiters and fixers.

Sandoval advised those interested in getting their certificates to apply at cfo.gov.ph. She warned the public that certificate taken from fixers may be fake.

“We also have CFO representatives sa ating mga paliparan na siya pong nagbe-verify kung meron po tayong nakita na kaduda-duda doon po sa certificate nila,” she said.

(We also have CFO representatives at our airports who can verify if there are irregularities in their certificates.)—AOL, GMA Integrated News