MANILA – Thirty Filipino victims of human trafficking arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday, repatriated from Myanmar after successful rescue efforts. They landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1, thanks to a coordinated operation by the Philippine government.
The victims were flown back aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR 0733, with support from the Philippine Embassy, the Office of the Police Attaché, and the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Bangkok. Upon arrival, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) welcomed them, along with representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Bureau of Immigration, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, and the NAIA Task Force Against Trafficking.
Immediate assistance was provided, including psychosocial support, financial aid, and legal services. Each victim received PHP 50,000 from the DMW’s Aksyon Fund and PHP 10,000 from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia emphasized the importance of legal assistance for the victims’ recovery.
The government also referred the victims to reintegration programs and training through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to aid their rehabilitation.
Another batch of 176 Filipino trafficking victims is expected to arrive on Wednesday via chartered flight. These individuals were lured by fake job offers for customer sales representative positions through platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Telegram, only to be forced into working as online scammers under abusive conditions.
Olalia commended the DFA for its support and rescue efforts, urging Filipinos to be cautious about fraudulent online job offers, particularly those linked to cryptocurrency scams and “pig-butchering” fraud. The DMW recommended verifying job offers through their official website and reporting suspicious activities to their Migrant Workers Protection Bureau hotline at +63 2 8721-0619.
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