BI nabbed 2 for sex trafficking

MANILA, Philippines — Immigration officers arrested two suspected members of a sex trafficking syndicate as they were escorting three Filipinas bound for Taiwan on Saturday.

The three women and their two companions were subjected to further screening after they gave inconsistent answers to questions by immigration officers and failing to explain the purpose of their travel and their itinerary, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.

He added that the incident is a “clear case of human trafficking that the BI must combat to protect the well-being of Filipino women.”

All five passengers were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation and filing of appropriate charges against the recruiters.

According to the BI’s immigration protection and border enforcement section report, the women initially claimed that they were freelance models and were traveling to Taipei for a basic training course on a Chinese language.

But they later confessed that they were recruited by someone on Facebook who offered them jobs as short-time sex workers for foreign customers in Taiwan.

Their two female companions reportedly arranged their travel and processed their documents.

The victims were informed that their income would depend on how much time they spend with their customers and the types of services that they would be asked to provide.

The victims also recounted that prior to their trip they were interviewed and screened in a room in Malate, Manila, where they were asked to strip naked so their bodies could be “assessed.”