MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is calling on lawmakers to enact a law penalizing Filipinos who illegally leave the country, aiming to curb human trafficking.
“Currently, there is no specific law against illegal departures. Violations often fall under related offenses such as falsification of public documents or passport tampering,” said Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado in a statement Monday (31 Mar 2025).
Viado emphasized that criminalizing illegal exits would serve as a deterrent to traffickers and prevent victims from easily falling into exploitative schemes.
The call comes after the recent repatriation of 54 Filipino trafficking victims from Myanmar, who likely exited the country through unauthorized routes.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg. We have long raised concerns about this issue, and it’s time for concrete action to protect our fellow Filipinos from these syndicates,” Viado added.
He urged stricter monitoring of illegal exit points, particularly in the southern Philippines, where traffickers use small boats to smuggle victims abroad. Tighter regulations, he noted, would reinforce President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to secure national borders.
Recent law enforcement actions have led to arrests, including that of a trafficker known as “Fiona” in Zamboanga, who allegedly facilitated illegal departures. Another suspect, “Jon Jon,” initially claimed to be a victim but was later identified by fellow repatriates as a recruiter for trafficking operations in Myanmar.
A study by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking has also highlighted the role of backdoor exits in human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The report recommends that local government units (LGUs) and law enforcement agencies intensify surveillance in high-risk areas to combat these crimes effectively.
ia/mnm
