BI probes 2 officers on links to human smuggling

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is currently conducting an investigation against two immigration officers who are allegedly involved in illegally sending undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) abroad.

Acting BI Commissioner Roy Almoro issued last Friday an order recalling Immigration Officer 1 Vic Ferrer, who was earlier relieved of his post at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), to the BI’s main office after he was implicated in the activities of 17 alleged illegal recruiters recently arrested by the police.

Ferrer was identified by Vice President Noli de Castro during a television interview as one of the immigration officers at NAIA suspected of receiving part of the money the recruiters allegedly demanded from their victims.

De Castro also named Rolando Virtusio, an immigration officer previously assigned at the NAIA, as allegedly being in the payroll of the recruitment syndicate. Virtusio is currently assigned to the BI main office in Intramuros.

“They will… be afforded due process during the investigation. But we will make sure they cannot influence the investigation,” Almoro said in a statement yesterday.

He added that prosecutors from the Department of Justice will handle the probe.

Almoro said he has sent a letter to De Castro requesting the names of other BI personnel suspected to be involved in the racket and how the syndicate operates at the NAIA so the bureau can begin its formal investigation.

The probe stemmed from the recent arrest of 16 suspected members of an illegal recruitment ring allegedly run by Luciano Lim, owner of the Excellent Travel Agency based in Ermita, Manila. Lim himself was also arrested. The police are set to charge the 17 suspects with violating the law against the human trafficking.

Thirty other travel agencies are also under investigation for possible links to the trafficking of Filipino workers to various countries.