AN Australian tourist and his Filipino girlfriend are facing criminal charges for allegedly attempting to traffic six women to Singapore last month.
Troy Russell Birthisel and his girlfriend, Lovely Jane Modina, were charged with violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 and the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1996 before the Office of the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor.
The couple allegedly lured the women to work as waitress or housekeeping staff of hotels, resorts or restaurants in Australia, authorities said.
But the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) refused to issue aclearance because their purpose for travelling to Singapore was dubious.
Birthisel and Modina, who are both detained at the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, declined to comment on the case.
Waiver
“Don’t talk to him, babe. Cover your face with a blanket,” Modina instructed her boyfriend, when Sun.Star Cebu talked to him.
The suspects signed a waiver for their continued detention, pending the resolution of the complaints against them, said Assistant Prosecutor Liceria Lofranco-Rabillas, who heads the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking-Mactan-Cebu International Airport Task Force (IACAT-MCIATF).
The task force stopped Birthisel and Modina at the Mactan airport when they were about to leave for Singapore last Oct. 22.
In their joint affidavit, the complainants said they met Birthisel through Modina, who is also their friend.
Three of the complainants are from Davao City, one is from Makati City, the other one hails from the Island Garden City of Samal and another is from Compostela Valley.
Birthisel is an Australian-born citizen and is based in Bali, Indonesia, while Modina
hails from Mati in Davao Oriental.
The six women said Modina told them that Birthisel has a friend, George Morrell, who owns the placement agency Hospitality Staff Asia (HSA) based in Australia.
Modina reportedly told the women that Morrell’s agency is hiring workers to be deployed as waitress or housekeeping staff personnel to resorts, restaurants or hotels in Australia.
They were told that their monthly salary will be P30,000.
She also informed the complainants that the job interview, psychometric testing and medical examinations would be done in Singapore.
Fare
They were told to secure their passports and that Morrell would shoulder their plane fare and hotel accommodation.
Modina also told the victims to communicate with Morrell on Facebook.
“We noticed that George Morrell is using a koala bear as his profile picture on Facebook. During our chats, he gave us instructions to secure our passports. He also told us that our plane tickets will be sent thru email,” the complainants said.
Morrell’s Facebook account was still active as of press time yesterday.
In his post last Sept. 6, Morrell said they are still on “major recruitment drive across Asia to fill the demand in the market for well-trained hospitality staff.”
The post says HSA is “specializing in the supply of well-groomed, experienced temporary and permanent staff to the hospitality industry.”
Morrell sent a “formal letter” to the complainants and told them to show it to the Bureau of Immigration in their flight for Singapore.
The complainants were also told that the interviewer from Australia will interview them at Hive Hotel in Singapore.
“We were very excited to travel to Singapore for the interview, especially that all the travel expenses and hotel accommodation would be shouldered by (George) Morrell).
We also looked forward to passing the interview and working abroad,” one of the
complainants said.
Birthisel and Modina were also scheduled to accompany the women to Singapore.
Last Oct. 21, the complainants met Modina and Birthesel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and checked-in for their flight for Singapore.
Clearance
But after their secondary inspection at the Travel Control and Enforcement Unit, airport police offloaded them for their failure to secure a clearance from the POEA.
The complainants and the suspects then went to the POEA in Ortigas, but still failed to get a clearance because their purpose for going to Singapore was to attend a job interview.
They stayed overnight at a hotel in Manila and boarded a flight for Cebu on the following day.
Flight
But when they checked-in for their flight bound for Singapore via Cebu Pacific, the Mactan police offloaded them anew because their purpose for travel to Singapore was “doubtful.”
They were then referred to the IACAT-MCIATF, which eventually lodged the complaints against Modina and Birthisel.
“The persons engaged in recruiting, transporting and hiring women through use of fraud under the pretext of overseas employment for the purpose of exploitation,” said lawyer Dante Bonoan, chief of the National Bureau of Investigation-International Airport Investigation Division.