The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported that its officers at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) intercepted a female trafficking victim attempting to use a fraudulent Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) certificate.

In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said that the 20-year-old passenger, whose name is withheld in compliance with anti-trafficking laws, tried to depart for Nagoya, Japan on November 14 at the NAIA Terminal 3.

Viado explained that the woman claimed she was traveling to Japan to visit her alleged husband, a Japanese national, and had presented a fake CFO certificate to meet travel requirements.

However, discrepancies in the certificate prompted immediate verification through the BI-CFO joint system, which confirmed the document was invalid.

“Our officers swiftly initiated a check using the BI-CFO joint system, which enabled real-time verification of the authenticity of her documents,” said Viado.

The system, designed to streamline the processing, verification, and sharing of data between the Bureau of Immigration and the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO), confirmed that the certificate number presented did not exist in the CFO database.

Further investigation revealed that the woman had purchased the counterfeit CFO certificate from an online fixer for a fee of P3,000.

“This joint system has proven to be an essential tool in preventing trafficking by quickly identifying fraudulent documents,” Viado said. “The seamless data-sharing between the BI and CFO helps us protect Filipinos from falling victim to these syndicates,” he added.

The victim has been referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation and for the filing of appropriate charges against those involved in producing the fake certificate. BI News