Courtesy: Pan de todos
THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) said its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have rescued another suspected victim of a mail-order bride syndicate victimizing Filipinas who are sent to China disguised as spouses of Chinese nationals.
In a report to Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) said the female passenger was intercepted at the NAIA terminal 3 last March 15 before she could board a China Southern Airlines flight to Guangzhou, China.
According to the I-PROBES, the victim, whose identity was withheld due to a prohibition in the anti-trafficking law, reportedly claimed that she was going to join her spouse in China to whom she is allegedly married.
She reportedly presented a marriage certificate as proof of the couple’s civil wedding which supposedly took place at the Pasig city hall last January.
“As per marriage certificate, the wedding was solemnized by a female preacher but in a wedding picture she presented that solemnizing officer appears to be a man,” said the I-PROBES in its report.
Due to the numerous inconsistencies pointed out to her, she admitted that the marriage was fake, and that it was arranged by a fixer who is in the business of recruiting Filipinas who are willing to become brides to Chinese nationals.
The victim also confessed that prior to the trip of her “husband” to the Philippines, the two had not yet met and neither have they entered into a long-distance relationship as lovers.
She further bared that she was promised by her recruiter she would receive half a million pesos upon her arrival in China in exchange for marrying her foreign spouse.
Tansingco had earlier warned Filipinas against falling prey to mail-order bride syndicates as they often end up working as domestic helpers and be subjected to unfair labor practices by their employer-spouse.
He stressed that the racket has already victimized Filipinas who were induced to the scheme due to promises of large sums of money which are not fulfilled when they arrive in their foreign destinations.
