MANILA – The holiday season saw a significant increase in travel, with nearly 190,000 passengers moving through airports on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI). Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado reported that a total of 186,193 travelers were processed by immigration officers across the country during these two days. On Christmas Eve, there were 52,437 arrivals and 41,895 departures, while Christmas Day saw 47,669 arrivals and 44,192 departures, highlighting the busy holiday travel period.
Viado praised the dedication of BI staff, who worked tirelessly over the holidays to manage the high volume of travelers efficiently. He emphasized the commitment of immigration officers to provide smooth services despite the peak season rush. Looking ahead, Viado anticipates even more traffic post-New Year celebrations.
The BI advised travelers to arrive early at airports and complete all necessary pre-departure and arrival formalities to facilitate smoother processing during the busy holiday period.
In a separate incident, BI personnel at Clark International Airport intercepted a human trafficker and four victims on Christmas morning. The victims, all in their 20s, were initially traveling under the guise of tourism but later admitted they were headed to Cambodia to work illegally as encoders for a company similar to a POGO, having been recruited by an Indonesian woman. Their 38-year-old female escort confessed to assisting them in reaching Singapore before crossing into Cambodia, with the victims promised a salary of PHP60,000.
Throughout December, the BI also thwarted several other attempts at illegal recruitment for scams and fraudulent operations. On December 10, a man at Ninoy Aquino International Airport was stopped en route to Thailand, admitting he was actually destined for Laos to work illegally. The following day, four individuals claiming to be on a company trip to Thailand confessed their real destination was Cambodia for illegal work. On December 18, five people were intercepted at different airports, admitting they were being trafficked to Myanmar using fake departure stamps. Two more interceptions occurred on December 21, involving individuals headed to Thailand and Singapore, who were actually recruited for customer service jobs in other countries with a promised salary of PHP50,000 per month. Another case on December 22 involved a woman at Mactan Cebu International Airport, who admitted to being recruited under false pretenses for work in Thailand.
All intercepted victims and their facilitators have been handed over to the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking for further investigation and legal action against the recruiters.