The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has expressed concern over the proliferation of fake Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) certificates being presented by prospective overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Immigration agents arrested an American fugitive in a joint operation with international law enforcement agencies in Manila.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said BI officers have encountered several instances of fake CFO guidance and counseling program (GCP) certificates that were presented by some plane passengers during immigration inspection.
The GCP is a required pre-departure seminar conducted by the CFO to apprise Filipinos on intermarriages and bi-national relationships, as well as cultural and social realities overseas.
The dubious certificates purport to show that the holders have attended the GCP, and therefore, cleared to go overseas.
BI officers at the NAIA Terminal 1 recently intercepted a 29 years old female passenger bound for Pudong in China after presenting a fake CFO-GCP certificate with her purported Chinese husband.
“Verification with the CFO revealed that the certificate presented was fake,” Tansingco said.
The BI issued a warning after immigration officers intercepted two more passengers under similar circumstances.
“We believe that this is an emerging trafficking trend, victimizing Filipinas to possibly work in scam call centers, as mail order brides, or as illegal surrogates,” Tansingco noted.
“Hence we are issuing a warning on Filipinos against this scheme,” he added.
Tansingco said those intercepted claimed they got their fake documents from fixers they met online.
“With the creation of the shared information system between the BI and the CFO, schemes like this will not be able to pass,” Tansingco said.
The fugitive, identified as William Robert Braddock III, 39, was found to be an undocumented alien and a subject of an arrest warrant issued by the United States District Court in Florida.
Braddock was wanted for Interstate Transmission of Threat to Injure, in Violation of Section 875(c) of Title 18 of the United States Codeafter reportedly making threatening calls against an American politician and his associate.
The arrest was effected by the BI Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Diplomatic Security Service-Overseas Criminal Investigations (DSS-OCI).
“We will continue our close cooperation with international partners to bring fugitives to justice,” Tansingco said.
BI FSU chief Rendel Ryan Sy said Braddock was walking along Roxas Boulevard in Manila when the operatives pounced on him.