Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco vowed to show no mercy to employees involved in human trafficking activities.

During the Senate hearing of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender headed by Senator Risa Hontiveros, Tansingco bared that they have relieved the immigration officer that approved the departure of three victims.

The victims claimed that their recruiter is in cahoots with said immigration officer, who was said to approve their travel for a fee. Tansingco said that his office will not stop until all those involved are removed from office.

“We will not tolerate any such misdemeanor amongst our ranks. We are one with Senator Hontiveros in her goal to rid the country of this societal ill,” said Tansingco.

“The fight against trafficking is a huge undertaking, and we have long been raising that this should be tackled using a whole-of-government approach. We have to take it from its roots, and pull out this weed that destroys lives of our kababayan,” he added.

During the hearing, victims recounted different modus operandi employed by traffickers to evade strict immigration inspection. Victims also recounted the use of fake airport passes and fake immigration stamps, transiting via third countries, and traveling through backdoor channels to be transported in different Asian countries to work for crypto scam syndicates.

Tansingco likened trafficking operations to running water. “Ang modus ng mga ito parang tubig. Kapag hinigpitan mo, maghahanap at maghahanap ng butas para doon lumabas,” he said.

He then called on other government agencies involved in trafficking to work together to identify, arrest, and file cases against illegal recruiters who prey on the vulnerabilities of people. BI News