Cracking down on BI scalawags

With the eight Filipinos trafficked to Myanmar now back in the country, can we dare hope that the Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel complicit in the crime would finally be made accountable for what appears to be extensive corruption in the agency?

The trafficking victims were recruited through social media ads as customer support representatives in Thailand, but were instead brought to a remote province in Myanmar, where they were forced to work as cryptocurrency scammers.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who first exposed the scam in November, quoted the victims as saying that some BI personnel assigned at Clark International Airport in Pampanga allowed them to fly out “without questions asked” after receiving as much as P100,000 per traveler from the recruiters. In a Senate hearing, it was revealed that an airport personnel would even escort the recruits and expedite their departure using fake exit stamps to bypass the BI counters.

Aside from steep quotas and long hours, the victims spoke of being maltreated and physically assaulted by their bosses, with the women forced to resort to “sexual and romantic relationships” online to bait clients into investing in cryptocurrency.

Similar online recruitment scams, which target Filipinos for their English skills, also happen in Cambodia and Laos, according to Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople. The agency has already issued an advisory cautioning applicants against dubious job offers from so-called crypto technoparks, she added.

So far, three BI personnel have been relieved for their alleged involvement in the trafficking activities, with agency officials saying that aside from disciplinary action, the BI is continuously shuffling people manning the immigration counters to prevent connivance and fraternization among them.

But haven’t we been down this road before? This isn’t the first time that the stench of corruption at the BI has assailed our nostrils, with Hontiveros’ earlier expose of the “pastillas” scam in 2020. Hontiveros said that since 2017, corrupt BI officers and personnel pocketed some P40 billion from the scam, which involved allowing entry of Chinese workers holding tourist visas in exchange for money rolled in paper, much like the Filipino delicacy pastillas. Corruption seems endemic and deeply rooted in the bureau because, despite the graft charges filed before the Sandiganbayan against BI officials and personnel involved in the pastillas scheme, the bureau is now embroiled in the trafficking and cryptocurrency scam. This latest racket shows that not only are BI bureaucrats turning a blind eye to anomalous dealings, but they are themselves coming up with various ways to game the system and earn a quick buck.

Last year, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the use of fake stamps at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in facilitating the departure of trafficked individuals, who were reportedly asked to change into the uniform of airport concessionaires to allow them free access in the premises and to skip the immigration counters altogether. What has happened to this probe?

And while the BI spokesperson has assured the public of improving and automating its procedures “to lessen face-to-face interaction (between) Immigration officers and the traveling public,” the bureau should do much more to weed out the scalawags in its ranks. It can start with a lifestyle check on its people for indications of sudden and unexplained wealth, especially among those in sensitive positions who have the discretion to decide the fate of incoming and outgoing travelers. More closed-circuit cameras with no blind spots should be installed in its premises as well to discourage criminal activities.

With the trafficking victims back and willing to name their recruiters, can we at least expect the NBI and the Department of Justice to do their job, and prosecute the guilty to the fullest extent of the law? Can we also call on the Philippine National Police cybercrime divisions to probe and track down the administrator of Facebook pages and Telegram groups that are involved in such operations?

As well, the Ombudsman should file graft charges against the BI officials and personnel named in the scam, while the Civil Service Commission can look into how these unscrupulous individuals have flouted the law and ethics on government service, and discipline them accordingly.

While the BI leadership is expected to crack down on the guilty, immigration and airport officials and personnel should also be constantly reminded to diligently and conscientiously exercise their gatekeeping function in screening undesirables coming in and vulnerable Filipinos flying out.

After all, as Hontiveros has stressed, “it is [their] duty to be the last line of defense against the trafficking of our citizens” instead of “pushing them to danger.”

Indeed, why should these scoundrels be allowed to profit while ruining the lives of fellow Filipinos who only want to seek better-paying jobs abroad?