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In this photo taken on June 8, 2020, security guards enforce a lockdown at the immigration office in Intramuros, Manila.
MANILA, Philippines — Immigration officials on Thursday night apologized to Filipino passengers who shared on social media that they had missed their flight due to a lengthy screening process by immigration officers.
In a statement, the department said the passengers were finally allowed to travel after conducting an investigation of the immigration officers involved and “filling out border control questionnaires undergoing secondary inspection.” .
“We apologize for any inconvenience caused to Filipino passengers and other Filipino passengers,” the agency said.
In a Tiktok video that is now going viral, Cham Tanteras shared details of the incident that occurred before traveling to Israel at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in December 2022.
Tanteras said in the video that immigration officers asked her many “irrelevant” questions, such as whether she had a yearbook or documents related to her freelance writing activities. , was asked to write an “essay” about his work in Siargao.
She also missed her scheduled flight at 11am due to the incident, even though she was supposed to be in line for immigration at 6am.
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The bureau said it has noticed a growing number of young professionals, saying that even “those with good travel records, paid employment, and good schooling” are being denied high salaries. have been deceived by overseas cryptocurrency scams that advertise the promise of
The scammers behind these false job advertisements reportedly transported young Filipino professionals to Myanmar and other Asian countries to work under abuse.
“Victims were promised a monthly salary of US$1,000 but were forced to cheat Westerners. If they failed to meet the quota, they were subjected to corporal punishment,” the agency said.
The department added that, based on its monitoring, of the more than 32,000 Filipinos who have postponed their departures in 2022, 472 were “found to be victims of human trafficking or illegal recruitment,” while 873 were They made false declarations or submitted fraudulent documents. Meanwhile, at least 10 were minors and were trying to run away for work.
“BI is just one of a number of government agencies tasked with combating human trafficking. Therefore, we ask for your consideration and understanding,” he added.
The agency also said it professionally interviewed officials to remind them to prevent similar incidents from occurring.
We also invited the public to report any issues or concerns regarding immigration officials to the Immigration Helpline PH Facebook page. — Christine Chi
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