'Pinoy' trafficking victim turned out to be Chinese —BI

A Chinese man who was repatriated from Myanmar after falling victim to human trafficking presented himself as a Filipino, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.

The BI said immigration officials intercepted victim King (not his real name) after presenting himself as a Filipino during the arrival proceedings at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) despite being a foreigner.

He is now detained at the BI holding facility in Bicutan, Taguig while awaiting deportation charges.

Investigation showed the 40-year-old victim left the Philippines in July 2023 for Thailand using a Chinese passport, holding a permanent residence visa under RA 7919.

He admitted that he used his Chinese passport as advised by his recruiters to prevent questioning about his purpose of travel.

Upon his arrival in Thailand, he crossed the river to Myanmar together with three others. He said his employers compensated him for one month, but was punished later on.

King was released after paying his recruiters 20,000 baht or more than P32,000 but was arrested by Thai immigration and detained for three months.

The victim said he feared that he will be deported to China if he uses his Chinese passport, and declared that he has never traveled back to China since his mother brought him to the Philippines when he was six months old.

His mother is a permanent residence holder in the Philippines, while his father is allegedly a naturalized Filipino.

He was issued a Philippine travel document by the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok and was deported to the Philippines.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that incidents like this is the effect of Chinese migrants taking shortcuts to get Philippine citizenship.

“You cannot buy citizenship. You can be born with it, or be naturalized. There are no other modes or shortcuts in acquiring Philippine citizenship,” Tansingco said.

“We are glad that many government agencies and lawmakers are already looking into this issue. This is a national security concern that needs to be addressed, lest it be abused by foreign nationals with malicious intent in the Philippines,” he added. —KG, GMA Integrated News