According to the Bureau of Immigration, traffickers are still using the country’s backdoor routes to lure more victims into working for scam hubs abroad.
Three Filipinos allegedly lured to work as love scammers in Cambodia who were recently repatriated had no official record of departure, as they supposedly exited the Philippines on a small boat from Jolo, Sulu to Sabah, Malaysia, where their passports were stamped with fake Bureau of Immigration stamps before traveling on to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, and Cambodia.
Promised a customer service job with a monthly salary of $1,000 by a fellow Filipino on Facebook, the victims were instead trained to become “love scammers,” earning $300. They were able to seek help from the Philippine embassy after their Chinese employers reportedly tortured them for more than two months.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said local authorities in vulnerable areas should participate in strengthening border control.
The porous borders of the country have been used by many, including Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, to evade Philippine authorities. Guo is back in custody of Philippine law enforcement, while questions remain on how she managed to escape the country. Roque, who has an arrest order from the House of Representatives, also left the country illegally while facing charges of human trafficking related to POGO operations in Porac, Pampanga.
Guo and Roque are believed to have exited the country through Tawi-Tawi, proceeding to Sabah.
Porous borders are a feature of an archipelago, and fortunately for the Philippines, only its southernmost borders are where most of its problems come from. Constant improvements and improved vigilance and enforcement at those vulnerable areas should discourage that route from being exploited by those who have ill intentions, whether it be for human trafficking or for public officials evading investigations.*
