May 8, 2023
MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) intercepted on Friday 10 Filipino women, supposed victims of overseas sex trafficking rings, as they were about to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Singapore, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said in a statement on Saturday. Tansingco said the women claimed they would tour Singapore with their friends but were later found to have work permits as entertainers. “We received information earlier this month from the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking that these women will end up as sex workers,” the Tansingco said. The women were allegedly recruited online via Facebook Messenger to work at a club in Singapore where they were offered a salary of P40,000 per month, with a deduction for their travel expenses for six months. —JACOB LAZARO