Senator Risa Hontiveros has called on the government to thoroughly investigate Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials, saying the Chinese mafia involved in human trafficking of Filipinos may have more connections working within the agency.
Hontiveros, at the same time, called for an overhaul of the agency to ensure the protection of Filipinos leaving the country’s borders.
“Marami nang napabalitang nasibak pero tuluy-tuloy parin ang pagre-recruit ng mga Pilipino para mangscam. May mga contact pa ba ang sindikato sa loob ng BI? Bakit hindi ito maampat? (It has been reported that many people have been fired, but Filipinos are still being recruited to scam. Does the syndicate still have contacts within BI? Why can’t this be stopped?)” the senator asked.
Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, on Wednesday, January 25 continued the panel’s probe into the reported outbound human trafficking of Filipinos who are forced to work as cryptocurrency scammers in Myanmar and also Cambodia.
The senator pointed out she has already urged a BI overhaul in the wake of the committee’s investigation into the so-called “pastillas” scam two years ago, but nothing seems to have changed.
“With the volume of trafficked Filipinos still in Cambodia and Myanmar, the BI, as our last line of defense against trafficking, clearly has some shaping up to do. The BI has to regroup and repair the entirety of their agency,” Hontiveros emphasized.