Philippines now out of US watch list on human trafficking

Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. welcomed a recently released US State Department report that the Philippines has made significant progress in combating human trafficking even as he pledged the BI’s continued vigilance in stopping human trafficking victims from leaving or entering the country.

David said the improvement of the Philippines’ standing in the human trafficking scorecard based on the Trafficking in Persons Interim Assessments is a clear and encouraging sign that the BI’s relentless drive against trafficking has paid off, despite criticisms that the bureau has been overzealous in doing its job.

David commended BI personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for doing a very good job during the past several months in stopping the departure of thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were victimized by illegal recruitment and human trafficking syndicates. He also acknowledged the accomplishments of his predecessor, former BI officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma, for instituting the measures and policies that enabled the bureau to offload the biggest number of trafficking victims in the agency’s history.

Statistics showed that from August to December alone, immigration officers at the NAIA and other airports stopped more than 27,000 passengers, most of them OFWs disguised as tourists, from leaving.

The combined efforts of all member agencies of the Inter-Agency Council Against  Trafficking (IACAT) resulted in the conviction of 21 human traffickers by the courts from July 2010 to March this year.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said it expects the Philippines’ record to improve when the State Department releases this June its next report on human trafficking.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the 21 convictions during the past nine months were a far cry from the 25 convictions in the past 7 years.

During the assessment period, 9 sex traffickers were convicted, with prison sentences ranging from 6 years to life imprisonment. One immigration official was slapped with criminal charges while 19 immigration personnel are facing administrative raps for trafficking-related activities.

According to the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, the Philippines has made ‘significant progress’ in its anti-human trafficking campaign since the release of the State Department’s 2010 report.

Last June, the DOJ ordered prosecutors to make trafficking cases a priority while the Supreme Court later issued a circular instructing courts to expedite the disposition of trafficking cases.

Philippine Bureau of Immigration step up vigilance and intensify campaign against human trafficking

Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Ricardo A. David Jr. urged immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to step up their vigilance and intensify the agency’s campaign against human trafficking.

David made the appeal during a dialogue with the bureau’s head supervisors and personnel assigned at the premiere port last Monday.

David directed Lina Andaman Pelia, BI airport operations division chief, to institute measures that will not only stop victims of illegal recruitment from leaving but also prevent the smuggling of illegal aliens.

He said the campaign against human trafficking should also target the syndicates that use the Philippines as a transit point for smuggling illegal aliens to other countries.

“Although we should be proud of our success in stopping thousands of undocumented OFWs from leaving, more efforts should likewise be exerted prevent the entry of illegal aliens who are later smuggled abroad by the syndicates that recruited and victimized them,” the immigration chief added. Immigration officers at the NAIA have been offloading thousands of passengers since August last year when it launched its intensified drive against human trafficking.

Most of the offloaded passengers were prospective OFWs bound for Asian destinations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Hongkong, and the Middle East but did not have the required overseas employment certificate from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

David said the BI will soon be deploying more immigration officers to the NAIA to augment the personnel who process and screen passengers.

He also stressed the need to conduct more training programs that will bolster the capability of BI personnel in profiling suspected illegal aliens and detecting fraudulent travel documents.

“Deploying more immigration officers will not serve its purpose unless we are sure that they have the capability and the know-how to perform their jobs,” he added.

Bureau of Immigration stops 21,000 ‘OFWs’ with tourist visas at NAIA

More than 21,000 prospective overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were stopped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Aug. to Dec. last year as part of the government’s intensified campaign against human trafficking, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration said.

Immigration officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma said the 21,709 persons who were offloaded from their flights all had tourist visas but intended to work upon reaching their destinations, putting them at risk with abuses, exploitation and even incarceration.

The BI started its drive against the so-called ‘tourist workers’ in August after Ledesma was appointed OIC.

The campaign, which was launched on orders of President Benigno Aquino III and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, aims to protect undocumented OFWs, most of whom are victims of illegal recruitment and human trafficking syndicates.

Suspected tourist workers are barred from boarding their flights once they fail to show the necessary clearance and employment permits from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

Lawyer Maria Antonette Bucasas, BI airport operations division chief, said most of the offloaded passengers were bound for traditional OFW destinations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Middle East.

Bucasas reported that of the total offloaded passengers, 11,990 were intercepted at the NAIA 1 terminal, 6,397 at the NAIA 3, and 3,322 were at the NAIA 2.

Ledesma said some offloading cases are being investigated by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) headed by Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, who is also undersecretary in charge of the immigration bureau.

“Hopefully, the investigations will result in the successful prosecution and conviction of the illegal recruiters and human traffickers who victimized and enticed these passengers to leave without proper documentation," Ledesma said.

He vowed to pursue without letup the BI’s drive against trafficking not only at the NAIA but in other major ports of the country of as well.

The government’s anti-trafficking drive was prompted by a US State Department report released last year listing the Philippines in Tier 2 of its human trafficking watch list. The US government has threatened to suspend all non-humanitarian aid to all countries with serious trafficking problems including the Philippines.

Philippine Bureau of Immigration screening procedures led to a big drop in the number of human trafficking victims reaching Singapore

The Philippine embassy in Singapore lauded the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) campaign against human trafficking that prevented the departure of thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) during the past weeks, many of them bound for the progressive city-state.

In a letter to Immigration Officer-In-Charge Ronaldo Ledesma, embassy charge d’ affaires Nathaniel Imperial said the BI’s recent screening procedures for departing Filipinos led to a big drop in the number of human trafficking victims reaching Singapore.

Imperial said Singapore, being a Freeport, is a regular destination and transshipment point of Filipinos who are victims of illegal recruiters and prostitution rings preying on young women.

“The Embassy appreciates this effort of the Bureau in countering the trafficking problem in the Philippines, especially since Singapore is a destination country of many trafficking victims,” the official said.

Imperial said that due to the BI’s intensified drive against human trafficking, the embassy now receives frequent queries from Filipinos in Singapore who wish to invite relatives and friends to visit them.

He asked the BI for specific guidelines as to when immigration officers at the airports may require affidavits and other proofs from travelling Filipinos who claim they were invited by relatives and friends abroad.

Lawyer Arvin Santos, BI airport operations division chief, said such affidavits must be authenticated by the Philippine embassy in Singapore, but stressed that such affidavit is not a guarantee that the invitee will be allowed to depart.

He said it is the discretion of the immigration officer to allow or disallow the departure of a passenger depending on the assessment during primary and secondary inspections.
Santos said there were past reports that affidavits were being forged by human trafficking syndicates to facilitate the departure of “tourist workers”, or would-be OFWs disguised as tourists.

Philippine immigration officers underwent customer care, skills training hoping to project positive and tourist-friendly image

This is good news, hopefully those who are planning to go home this holiday will feel the love and care of our “newly” trained officers. We commend BI for having thought of this training, it is badly needed. Those mentioned soft skills (in bold letters) are a mouthful and we hope they will stick once they are back on the job….

As part of its continuing mission to empower and develop the potentials of its employees, the Bureau of Immigration will conduct this week a three-day training for immigration officers that focuses on effective communication, enhanced customer service and conflict management.

BI Officer-In-Charge Ronaldo Ledesma said an initial batch of 25 immigration officers will undergo the “Customer Care, Image and Skills Enhancement Workshop” to be held at the Philippine Immigration Academy in Clark, Pampanga from November 3 to 5.

“This is part of the bureau’s continuing efforts to improve our service delivery and at the same time update our immigration officers on the latest immigration trends and best practices in the world,” Ledesma said.

“Our immigration officers are the very first persons that foreigners meet when they arrive in our airports. That is why it is very important that they project a positive and professional image that should also reflect the Filipinos’ trademark traits of hospitality and courtesy,” he added.

Lawyer Arvin Santos, BI Airport Operations Division chief, said that the bureau would adjust the schedules of the other immigration officers who are not included in the first batch of trainees to minimize disruption in operations, particularly in the manning of immigration counters in the airports.

The three-day workshop will cover topics such as

• updates in the policies and procedures of the Airport Operations Division
• courtesy and discipline
• personal awareness and aspects of a positive job image as immigration officers
• effective communication
• conflict management
• and defining business etiquette within globally-accepted immigration standards, among others.

The bureau’s immigration officers are at the forefront of the country’s intensified campaign against human trafficking, drug smuggling and other transnational crimes, and are usually at the receiving end of abusive foreign visitors, thus the need to project strict but professional demeanor at all times.

“This training program is vital not only for the immigration officers’ professional growth but also in projecting a positive and tourist-friendly image for the Philippines in the eyes of the world,” Ledesma said.

Bureau of Immigration to re-activate mobile phone jammers at NAIA

The Bureau of Immigration will re-activate its mobile telephone jammers at the immigration zones of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as part of the government’s intensified campaign against human trafficking.

Immigration Officer-In-Charge Ronaldo Ledesma said he directed the bureau’s property section to immediately seek the necessary permit from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to again operate the NAIA cellular phone jammers.

He said similar jammers will be installed in all immigration areas in the country’s international airports as soon as the bureau gets the budget to procure them.

“These cellphone jammers will definitely go a long way in bolstering our fight against human traffickers,” Ledesma said, adding that human trafficking syndicates use mobile phones in communicating with their cohorts and victims at the airport.

According to BI property section chief John Tugade, the BI’s four jammers and its server remain intact at the NAIA departure area and can be used anytime. He said he has applied for a permit from the NTC to re-operate them as soon as possible.

The equipment, which cost more than P400,000, were bought during the previous administration but the bureau stopped using them reportedly due to protests from airline companies and other airport stakeholders.

Reactivating the jammers is one of several measures that the BI and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) initiated to boost the government’s drive against human trafficking.

The IACAT is headed by Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, who is also the undersecretary-in-charge of the BI.

Three weeks ago, Ledesma announced the adoption of the “S-line” queuing system for all arriving and departing passengers at the NAIA and other airports to prevent collusion among human traffickers and rogue immigration personnel.

The “S-line” aims to prevent international passengers from choosing which immigration counter to line up to process their travel documents.

Airport immigration officers are also strictly prohibited from using their mobile phones while on duty.