Three women allegedly recruited to work as sex workers in Taiwan were rescued by officers of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) Saturday, November 11.
The three victims, who along with their two suspected couriers, were attempting to board a flight to Taipei when they were intercepted by BI officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
Citing a report from the BI’s immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES), BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the women initially claimed they are freelance models who were traveling to Taipei for a basic training course on the Chinese language.
The passengers were subjected to further screening after giving inconsistent answers to questions by immigration officers and for failure to explain the purpose and itinerary of their travel.
Upon further questioning, the three victims said that they were recruited by someone on Facebook who offered them jobs as short-time sex workers for foreign customers in Taiwan.
Their two female companions were identified by authorities as the ones who arranged their travel and processed their documents.
They were told that their income would depend on how much time they spend with their customers and the types of activities that they will engage with them.
The victims also recounted that prior to their trip they were interviewed and screened inside a room in Malate, Manila where they were asked to strip naked so their bodies could be “assessed.”
All five passengers were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation and filing of appropriate charges against the recruiters.
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