The Department of Tourism has called on the public to refrain from patronizing unaccredited travel agencies to avoid a repeat of an incident whereby 60 Philippine Airlines passengers bound for Tokyo, Japan failed to board the plane after they scammed by one Double A Traveling Agency.
The Japan-bound Filipino passengers all showed up at the Davao International Airport for their supposed flights but discovered they were not booked by the travel agency.
According to a press statement, one of the scammed passengers who was supposed to fly back from Davao City to Manila on January 6 at 9:20 a.m. and from Manila to Narita, Japan at 2:50 p.m. first discovered about the un-booked flight.
The victim told authorities it was the first time he was scammed by the agency, with whom his family had been for transacting for some time.
He added that the management has not changed since their previous transactions with Arlyn Llurca, the travel agent of Double A Traveling Agency.
According to San Pedro Police Station, more and more passengers had come to them to file a complaint against Double A Traveling Agency.
Double A Traveling Agency was located at Door 6, Doña Segunda Building but was closed to business on Wednesday.
DOT Regional Director Robert Alabado express concern about the growing number of complaints against fake travel agencies especially those that only operate on line.
“Anyone can put anything (on line), anyone can change phones, can change their account and mostly they are unaccredited,” he said.
He added that even if the business is on line, it must have a business permit in the local government and accreditation issued by DOT.
“It means they are compliant to all national rules and regulations,” he explained.
The regional director stressed, to avoid becoming a victim of scam, it is better to go to travel agencies with physical office and with accreditation issued by DOT.
“On line is fine but sometimes they also present fake documents saying they are accredited but they are not which only increases their charges. Falsification of documents,” he said.
In the case of Double A Traveling Agency, Alabado said the local government unit of Davao City will be the one to handle the complaints filed by the victims.
“The LGU must remove their business permit,” he emphasized.
For the side of DOT, the regional director said the agency is doing its best to raise an awareness campaign to the public to avoid being victimized by fake travel agencies.
To ensure the legitimacy of the travel agency, Alabado called on the public to check http://www.visitmyphilippines.com to see the list of accredited travel agencies in the country.
