MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration on Wednesday reminded Filipinos to go through official channels for overseas work after two women were kept from leaving the country with doctored documents that they paid P75,000 each for.

According to a release, the two women were leaving for Kula Lumpur when they were intercepted at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

They were headed to Paris in France with papers that supposedly showed they were officemates at an information technology networking company.

They later admitted to immigration officials that the documents were spurious and sold to them by recruiters they only met on Facebook.

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"Don't gamble your lifelong savings," Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said, adding Filipinos seeking work abroad should not take shortcuts by dealing with illegal recruiters.

He said many victims of these recruitment schemes were promised high-paying jobs abroad but return to the country "empty-handed after being abandoned by their handlers."

The Philippines has been sending workers abroad for decades because of poor employment prospects in the Philippines and to help buoy the economy with remittances.

• DMW shuts down alleged illegal recruitment agency

Registration with agencies like the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration is meant to prepare Filipinos for work overseas and provide them some protection while abroad.

Many still deal with unlicensed recruiters out of desperation or with the hopes of speeding up the deployment process.

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