THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has heightened its alert in different ports of entry to help facilitate enhanced border security during the holiday season.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said he has directed immigration officers deployed in the different international airports and seaports to exercise extra vigilance in screening arriving and departing travelers.
"This is to ensure that our campaign to thwart the entry of illegal aliens and prevent the departure of trafficking victims is not
compromised during this Christmas season," Morente said in a statement.
He again warned the human smuggling and human trafficking syndicates against taking advantage of the holiday rush to spirit their victims in or out of the country despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Do not even try because our officers at the airports will surely foil any attempts by these syndicates to ply their racket," the BI chief said.
He mentioned the interceptions of suspected trafficking victims at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) wherein passengers, who are undocumented contract workers, attempted to leave with fake travel documents or in the guise of being tourists.
"These tricks will not work as our immigration officers are trained in passengers assessment and detecting fraudulent travel documents," Morente added.
The BI earlier announced that it temporarily deployed additional men at the ports to be on standby for the holiday season.
The BI officials, however, said they do not expect a major upsurge in the number of international travelers due to prevailing travel restrictions caused by the pandemic.