NextGen Day

Senator Risa Hontiveros is calling for a complete overhaul of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) staff because she believes there is a chance they are collaborating with the Chinese mafia to traffic Filipinos who were coerced into working on cryptocurrency scams.

According to the survivors’ statements, Hontiveros said that BI workers at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga escort and permit the victims to depart the country without being interrogated.

“Marami nang napabalitang nasibak, tayo pa rin ang pag-re-recruit ng mga Pilipino para mang-scam. Are there any contacts for the union at BI Loob? Although many people have reportedly been fired, there are still reports of Filipinos being recruited for fraud. Does the syndicate know anyone at BI? In a news briefing on Wednesday, Hontiveros asked, “Why isn’t it stopped?

She claimed that in order to improve the effectiveness of the BI through wage grade hikes and immigration system improvements, among other measures, the Immigration Modernization bill must also be reviewed.

“Two years ago, after the ‘pastillas’ scam inquiry, I had already pushed for a BI revamp, but nothing appears to have changed. As our last line of defense against trafficking, the BI certainly needs some work given the number of Filipinos who have been trafficked and are still in Cambodia and Myanmar. The BI needs to reorganize and fix its entire organization, according to Hontiveros.

One of the Filipinos transported to Cambodia, going under the nickname “Ron,” testified before the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality that his Chinese employers forced him to find additional Filipinos to labor for their crypto fraud activities.

Ron claimed that Rachel Almendra Luna, the head of recruitment, has connections with immigration officials at Clark airport.

Additionally, he said that all of their hirings takes place on Facebook groups, where they post job advertisements encouraging Filipinos to apply for positions as customer care agents in Cambodia with salaries starting at least USD600 per month.

Facebook must answer for the human trafficking schemes that are carried out on its platform. The business needs to be aware of this strategy and be on the lookout for positions of this nature. I-take down or I-block na dapat ang mga accounts o posts na mga ito para hindi na makapag-recruit pa ng Pilipino (These accounts or posts should be removed or blocked so that no more Filipinos can be hired),” Hontiveros said.

Additionally, Ron said that his employer forced him to apply for a job with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration using a false name, fraudulent letters of invitation, and other documents.

He was awarded an Overseas Employment Certificate despite the fake documents.

“Is the employment contract incapable of being both verified and authenticated online? Is the employment contract not need to be verified and authenticated? Hontiveros questioned whether there was any screening to spot potential red flags during the session.

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