IACAT warns airport personnel aiding human trafficking syndicates

MANILA, Philippines - The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking in Persons (IACAT) has vowed to intensify its campaign against airport officials and personnel facilitating or aiding operations of human trafficking syndicates.

In a statement, IACAT head and Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar warned that all airport personnel who would conspire with human trafficking syndicates would be relieved from government service and charged in court.

He issued the warning in reaction to reports that some “airport personnel are facilitating the exit of mostly tourist workers who are most prone to exploitation by trafficking syndicates.”

“We will implement a rigorous investigation and monitoring of those implicated in the reports, and definitely we will file cases against them as soon as we find probable cause,” he said.

Salazar said even Malacañang is interested on the status of the cases of government officials and employees involved in human trafficking.

A number of Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers, airport police department (APD) personnel, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents, Bureau of Customs (BOC) employees, Philippines Overseas Employment Administration officials and people from the Manila International Airport Authority are facing charges of human trafficking and are routinely implicated for attempts to facilitate the exit of tourist workers for a huge fee.