THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has issued a warning about a new human trafficking route to Pakistan, where Filipinos are victimized and forced to work illegally in online gaming hubs.
The BI announced that its Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) intercepted four victims at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on July 6, 2025.
The group, consisting of one male and three females in their late 30s to early 40s, attempted to depart for Hong Kong.
Initially, the victims claimed they were traveling for a short vacation in Hong Kong. However, during a secondary inspection, they revealed their true destination was Pakistan.
There, a Chinese national recruited them to work as cleaners and a cook in an online gaming compound, with promised monthly salaries of P35,000 to P45,000.
The victims stated that the recruiter would cover their travel expenses to Pakistan, provided they posed as tourists until further arrangements were made.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado expressed alarm over this newly discovered human trafficking scheme.
He described it as a "dangerous shift" in trafficking patterns, similar to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) operations.
“This is a deeply disturbing trend. We are now seeing victims being funneled to Pakistan for illegal online work, clearly a new scheme from the same criminal playbook tied to illegal Pogos. This shows how traffickers are becoming more aggressive and deceptive,” Viado said.
“These people were promised jobs, but were told to lie about their purpose of travel and wait for further instructions overseas. This modus operandi reeks of exploitation and abuse," he added.
Viado urged the public to be cautious of "too-good-to-be-true" overseas job offers, especially those that involve lying about travel purposes or posing as a tourist. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)