Hawak na ng Bureau of Immigration (BI) ang dalawang babaeng overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) na naharang sa Clark International Airport (CIA) dahil sa pamemeke ng kanilang edad.
Ayon kay BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, ang naturang mga babae ay patung sanang Jeddah sa Saudi Arabia.
Ayon daw kay Travel Control and Enforcement Unit officers Maria Clarissa Bartolome at Kaypee Enebrad ang pamekeke ng dalawang menor-de-edad sa kanilang mga edad ay para makapasok bilang Household Service Workers (HSWs) abroad.
Hindi na inilabas ang pangalan ng dalawang dalagita dahil saklaw ito ng anti-trafficking laws pero galing daw ang mga ito sa Cotabato at sinabing sila at 26 at 27-anyos na.
Ang minimum age naman para sa deployment ng HSWs ay 23-ayos.
Tinangka raw nilang lumipad patungong Saudi Arabia sa pamamamgitang ng Qatar Airways flight No. 931.
Lumalabas sa isinagawang interview ng immigration officers na hindi raw consistent ang statements ng dalawa kaugnay ng kanilang personal details.
“It was later confirmed that they have misrepresented their age, and they admitted that their documents were merely processed for them by their recruiter,” ani Morente.
Ang naturang kaso ay kasunod nang pagkakaharang din sa tatlong underage OFWs na sinabihan daw ng kanilang mga recruiters na maglagay ng dark lipstick para magmukhang mas matanda kumpara sa kanilang kasalukuyang edad.
“These human traffickers are victimizing the youth by enticing them to agree to such schemes,” said Morente. “We have turned over their cases to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation, to be able to file cases, arrest and jail these recruiters. Our kababayan end up in vulnerable situations abroad because of this scheme. These recruiters are not stopping despite the pandemic, and this modus should be curbed immediately,” dagdag ni Morente.
