Airport policemen are now investigating the possible involvement of a police colonel in suspected human trafficking activities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after he was caught “escorting” four passengers with incomplete travel documents Sunday.
Superintendent Jose Victor Bantigue of the Western Police District (WPD) is now the subject of a probe that seeks to determine whether or not he is engaged in human trafficking operations in cahoots with a Bureau of Immigration (BI) officer who allowed the passengers escorted by Bantigue to pass through the airport’s immigration counter.
In a report to Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) assistant general manager for security and emergency services Angel Atutubo and Airport Police Department (APD) chief Superintendent Francisco Dino, Police Intelligence and Investigation Division (PIID) chief Captain Alden Gay said Bantigue was caught facilitating the exit of four Filipinos bound for Taipei.
Gay said the passengers were allowed to pass the immigration counter at NAIA Terminal 1 despite the fact that they had no Overseas Employment Certificates (OECs).
He also said Bantigue, who works as a technical assistant for the Bureau of Immigration (BI), was caught on tape by closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
“We invited him for questioning. The four passengers he was with were offloaded and were not allowed to leave,” he told The STAR in an interview.
Gay said his men are investigating the case further, since Bantigue denied that he was facilitating for the exit of the four undocumented Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).
The immigration officer who allegedly allowed the passengers to pass through his counter is also under investigation.
The MIAA and BI’s satellite office at the NAIA has been enforcing stricter rules against “escorting services” at the airport following the creation of the Task Force against Trafficking in Persons, which MIAA General Manager Alfonso Cusi heads. – Michael Punongbayan