September 24, 2010 - THIRTY-FOUR persons, including three foreign nationals, were charged Tuesday for allegedly defrauding at least 19 jobseekers, mostly nurses, of P300,000 each, in exchange for high-paying jobs in the United Kingdom.
Charged with syndicated and large scale illegal recruitment and estafa in the Makati Prosecutor’s Office were Timothy Malcolm Sargeant, 53, and Karen Denise Wood, 38, both British nationals; Kenyan Paul Maundu Nyamai, 33, and the Filipino staff of the employment agency International Student Advisors 4U Inc. (ISA).
The suspects were arrested by operatives of the Anti-Transnational Crime Division of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group during an entrapment operation in their office at Mavenue Building, Guerrero Street, Makati Avenue, Makati City.
Senior Supt. Gilbert Sosa, chief of the CIDG-ATCD, said several other officials and employees of ISA are still at large, including the owners, Philip Leonard, a British national, and his wife, Bernalyn Nacionales-Leonard.
Also named respondents were officials and employees of Faces and Shots Video Editing Inc. and Sir Philip Leonard Learning Center Inc.
Sosa said ISA, Faces and Shots Video Editing Inc. and Sir Philip Leonard Learning Center Inc. serve as one-stop shops for illegal recruitment activities of the respondents through a student visa scheme.
Under its Securities and Exchange Commission registration, the agency is only limited to providing advisory and marketing consultancy services for training college and university courses in foreign countries.
However, on their official website, the firm reportedly advertises their capability to bring nurses and health care professionals to the UK on a “Study and Work” program.
Many of the complainants said they applied for on-the-job training offered by the company because it promised big salaries as nurses and caregivers in the UK.
Each was required to pay amounts ranging from P300,000 to P650,000.
A verification with the POEA showed that the respondents and ISA were not authorized to recruit and deploy workers abroad. - Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Monday, December 27, 2010
3 illegal recruitment victims return home
April 20, 2009, MANILA, Philippines – Three Filipinas who were victims of illegal recruitment and sex trafficking in west African nation of Ivory Coast were rescued by the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) and returned to their families on Monday.
On board flight EK334 from Dubai, Abby, Rose and Marie (not their real names) arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 2 a.m., said Senator Richard Gordon, who also chairs the PNRC.
The three were recruited by Mirasol and Arnold Granada with a promise of earning as much as P 150,000 a month as cashiers in Ivory Coast, Gordon said.
But upon their arrival, their passports were reportedly confiscated in the airport, he said.
As a result, the victims were forced to work at Ilongo Bar, a night club owned by a certain Noemi Carnaje Shen, who is also a Filipina, he said.
According to Abby, her refusal to work in the night club allegedly prompted her employers to lock her inside a room without being given food. Using their mobile phones, the victims sought the help of their families, Gordon said.
The PNRC coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for the immediate rescue of the three overseas workers and their immediate repatriation, he said.
Gordon said he also sought the assistance of the Red Cross Society of Ivory Coast to assess the situation and condition of the three to extend whatever assistance they needed, he said.
Immediately upon their arrival in Manila, the three victims underwent stress debriefing to avoid post-traumatic stress disorder and were given medical assistance, he said.
“The OFWs [Overseas Filipina Workers] were complaining of body pain due to some physical abuse and lack of food for several days so we immediately conducted general check-up. We also provided meals and offered them the PNRC hostel for their temporary shelter,” said PNRC Social Services Manager Zenaida Beltejar.
PNRC Social Services also contacted the three victims’ relatives.
“Welfare of our OFWs is one of the major concerns of the PNRC. We are going to extend all possible help we could provide to them especially when they are ill-treated in other countries,” said PNRC secretary general Gwen Pang. - Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net
On board flight EK334 from Dubai, Abby, Rose and Marie (not their real names) arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 2 a.m., said Senator Richard Gordon, who also chairs the PNRC.
The three were recruited by Mirasol and Arnold Granada with a promise of earning as much as P 150,000 a month as cashiers in Ivory Coast, Gordon said.
But upon their arrival, their passports were reportedly confiscated in the airport, he said.
As a result, the victims were forced to work at Ilongo Bar, a night club owned by a certain Noemi Carnaje Shen, who is also a Filipina, he said.
According to Abby, her refusal to work in the night club allegedly prompted her employers to lock her inside a room without being given food. Using their mobile phones, the victims sought the help of their families, Gordon said.
The PNRC coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for the immediate rescue of the three overseas workers and their immediate repatriation, he said.
Gordon said he also sought the assistance of the Red Cross Society of Ivory Coast to assess the situation and condition of the three to extend whatever assistance they needed, he said.
Immediately upon their arrival in Manila, the three victims underwent stress debriefing to avoid post-traumatic stress disorder and were given medical assistance, he said.
“The OFWs [Overseas Filipina Workers] were complaining of body pain due to some physical abuse and lack of food for several days so we immediately conducted general check-up. We also provided meals and offered them the PNRC hostel for their temporary shelter,” said PNRC Social Services Manager Zenaida Beltejar.
PNRC Social Services also contacted the three victims’ relatives.
“Welfare of our OFWs is one of the major concerns of the PNRC. We are going to extend all possible help we could provide to them especially when they are ill-treated in other countries,” said PNRC secretary general Gwen Pang. - Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net
97 victims of illegal recruitment rescued
June 17, 2009, MANILA, Philippines—Police on Tuesday rescued 97 victims of illegal recruitment after months of being forced to stay inside a training center in Manila, a police official said on Wednesday.
Director Raul Castaneda, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the victims were rescued at Da Farmers Training Center Corporation in San Andres Bukid, Sta. Ana, where they were forced to stay while waiting for their papers to be processed.
Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, chief of the CIDG Anti-Transnational Crime Division, said the victims were brought from remote villages around the country to Manila with the promise of jobs in the Middle East particularly in Dubai, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait.
The recruitment firm, Al-Alamia International Manpower Services, is owned by a certain Ma. Dolores Elanany.
"They have been in the center for several months already and have incurred lots of expenses for their documents and yet it was unclear whether their trip will push through," Sosa said.
Earlier, 22 other victims of the firm approached the police for assistance.
Police, however, failed to arrest the owner of the recruitment agency.
The rescued victims of the recruitment firm were brought to the Visayan Forum Foundation.
Castaneda said police will be filing charges of violation of Republic Act 8042 (Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995), RA 9208 (Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), and Article 315 (swindling) of the Revised Penal Code. - Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net
Director Raul Castaneda, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the victims were rescued at Da Farmers Training Center Corporation in San Andres Bukid, Sta. Ana, where they were forced to stay while waiting for their papers to be processed.
Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, chief of the CIDG Anti-Transnational Crime Division, said the victims were brought from remote villages around the country to Manila with the promise of jobs in the Middle East particularly in Dubai, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait.
The recruitment firm, Al-Alamia International Manpower Services, is owned by a certain Ma. Dolores Elanany.
"They have been in the center for several months already and have incurred lots of expenses for their documents and yet it was unclear whether their trip will push through," Sosa said.
Earlier, 22 other victims of the firm approached the police for assistance.
Police, however, failed to arrest the owner of the recruitment agency.
The rescued victims of the recruitment firm were brought to the Visayan Forum Foundation.
Castaneda said police will be filing charges of violation of Republic Act 8042 (Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995), RA 9208 (Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), and Article 315 (swindling) of the Revised Penal Code. - Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net
DFA warns about new recruitment scam
January 11, 2010, MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs has warned Filipinos seeking jobs abroad about a new recruitment scam which the Philippine embassy in Germany uncovered.
In a statement, the DFA said two Filipinos contacted the embassy for help in verifying the status of a company named Markel-Power International, located in the northern German city of Bremen, which had informed the two through e-mail that they would be hired by the firm.
But the company had one condition for the jobs. They first had to pay 70 euros (about P4,600) through Western Union to an employment company based in Monza, a city in Italy’s Lombardy region.
The Philippine embassy discovered that Markel-Power International was non-existent, was not registered with the Bremen Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had a fictitious address, had no telephone and fax numbers, and was using a host in the United States for its English website.
“The embassy is convinced this recruitment scheme is another variation of the Nigerian 4-1-9 advance-fee scam designed to victimize innocent Filipino jobseekers,” chargé d’affaires Christine Queenie Mangunay said.
The Nigerian 4-1-9 scam, also known as the Nigerian advance-fee scheme, involves the receipt of an unsolicited letter allegedly from a Nigerian Central Bank employee or from the Nigerian government. It is named after the section of the Nigerian penal code which tackles fraudulent schemes.
The embassy has warned Filipino jobseekers of the new scam and has asked the DFA to bring the matter to the attention of relevant authorities such as the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Justice and Philippine National Police.
Meanwhile, an overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) group yesterday called on the Philippine government to do something about the “unabated” illegal recruitment of OFWs to Macau.
Cynthia Tellez, executive director of the Mission for Migrant Workers (MFMW) based in Hong Kong, said the Philippine government was ignoring the victims of illegal recruitment.
MFMW called on the government to provide immediate assistance, such as temporary shelter, legal counsel and air passage, to all victims of illegal recruitment, and to arrest and prosecute all illegal recruiters of Filipinos in Macau.
According to Tellez, MFMW handled nearly 50 OFWs who were victims of illegal recruitment to Macau in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Thirteen OFWs had sought the assistance of the Filipino Catholic Pastoral Center and Migrante Macau. Tellez said the group sought the assistance of the Philippine consulate on Jan. 5.
“We were told by the assistance to nationals section officer that we cannot get any assistance from them and they even blamed us for our plight,” Tellez quoted one of the OFWs, Rico Cabangon, as saying. - Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer
In a statement, the DFA said two Filipinos contacted the embassy for help in verifying the status of a company named Markel-Power International, located in the northern German city of Bremen, which had informed the two through e-mail that they would be hired by the firm.
But the company had one condition for the jobs. They first had to pay 70 euros (about P4,600) through Western Union to an employment company based in Monza, a city in Italy’s Lombardy region.
The Philippine embassy discovered that Markel-Power International was non-existent, was not registered with the Bremen Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had a fictitious address, had no telephone and fax numbers, and was using a host in the United States for its English website.
“The embassy is convinced this recruitment scheme is another variation of the Nigerian 4-1-9 advance-fee scam designed to victimize innocent Filipino jobseekers,” chargé d’affaires Christine Queenie Mangunay said.
The Nigerian 4-1-9 scam, also known as the Nigerian advance-fee scheme, involves the receipt of an unsolicited letter allegedly from a Nigerian Central Bank employee or from the Nigerian government. It is named after the section of the Nigerian penal code which tackles fraudulent schemes.
The embassy has warned Filipino jobseekers of the new scam and has asked the DFA to bring the matter to the attention of relevant authorities such as the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Justice and Philippine National Police.
Meanwhile, an overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) group yesterday called on the Philippine government to do something about the “unabated” illegal recruitment of OFWs to Macau.
Cynthia Tellez, executive director of the Mission for Migrant Workers (MFMW) based in Hong Kong, said the Philippine government was ignoring the victims of illegal recruitment.
MFMW called on the government to provide immediate assistance, such as temporary shelter, legal counsel and air passage, to all victims of illegal recruitment, and to arrest and prosecute all illegal recruiters of Filipinos in Macau.
According to Tellez, MFMW handled nearly 50 OFWs who were victims of illegal recruitment to Macau in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Thirteen OFWs had sought the assistance of the Filipino Catholic Pastoral Center and Migrante Macau. Tellez said the group sought the assistance of the Philippine consulate on Jan. 5.
“We were told by the assistance to nationals section officer that we cannot get any assistance from them and they even blamed us for our plight,” Tellez quoted one of the OFWs, Rico Cabangon, as saying. - Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Foreigner faces deportation on illegal recruitment raps
April 07, 2010, MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration has started deportation proceedings against a foreigner arrested for large scale illegal recruitment in Palawan, Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said.
Ehmad Agha a.k.a. Salim Jan Iftikha, identified as a Pakistani national and currently detained in Bicutan, was declared an undesirable and undocumented alien following his and Filipina wife’s Emy Encinas arrest last March 23 by the Puerto Princesa police, the immigration chief said.
Immigration Area Office (IAO) Region 5 Director Jose Tria said Iftikha was the subject of complaints by 11 Filipinos in Palawan who were allegedly victimized by the couple in their illegal recruitment racket.
Tria said the Pakistani could not present his passport or any travel document from the time he was arrested.
The 11 complainants alleged that they were convinced by Iftikha and his wife to give P20, 000 each in return for their employment overseas.
The complainants sought the help of the police when they learned that the couple was planning to leave the country without notice.
Upon investigation, Iftikha claimed that he was a Pakistani and British citizen and that he arrived in the country sometime in July or August last year.
Verification of Iftikha’s claim, however, showed that the name of the suspect did not appear in the computerized travel records of the BI, arousing suspicion that he illegally entered the country via the backdoor. - Tetch Torres, INQUIRER.net
Ehmad Agha a.k.a. Salim Jan Iftikha, identified as a Pakistani national and currently detained in Bicutan, was declared an undesirable and undocumented alien following his and Filipina wife’s Emy Encinas arrest last March 23 by the Puerto Princesa police, the immigration chief said.
Immigration Area Office (IAO) Region 5 Director Jose Tria said Iftikha was the subject of complaints by 11 Filipinos in Palawan who were allegedly victimized by the couple in their illegal recruitment racket.
Tria said the Pakistani could not present his passport or any travel document from the time he was arrested.
The 11 complainants alleged that they were convinced by Iftikha and his wife to give P20, 000 each in return for their employment overseas.
The complainants sought the help of the police when they learned that the couple was planning to leave the country without notice.
Upon investigation, Iftikha claimed that he was a Pakistani and British citizen and that he arrived in the country sometime in July or August last year.
Verification of Iftikha’s claim, however, showed that the name of the suspect did not appear in the computerized travel records of the BI, arousing suspicion that he illegally entered the country via the backdoor. - Tetch Torres, INQUIRER.net
Jordanian arrested for illegal recruitment
June 12, 2009, MANILA, Philippines—Immigration agents have arrested a Jordanian man accused of running an illegal recruitment operation in the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.
Faris Al-Kawadri, 29, was nabbed Monday inside his hotel room in Makati City, the bureau’s intelligence and security chief, Alberto Braganza, said.
The agency said Al-Kawadri was responsible for the illegal deployment of Filipino women to Middle East.
The BI official said they found the passports of three women from Mindanao in the suspect’s room.
“He will thus be deported for working here without the required permit and visa and for being an undesirable alien,” Braganza said.
When asked about the passports, Al-Kawadri said the travel documents were given to him by a placement agency based in Ermita for processing. The three women who owned the passports were supposed to leave for Saudi Arabia as contract workers, he said.
Aside from the illegal recruitment charges, Al-Kawadri was also accused of maltreating his Filipino wife.
Al-Kawadri’s wife reported his activities to bureau and helped in his arrest.
In her complaint, Al-Kawadri’s wife alleged that her husband abandoned her and their one-and-a-half-year-old son for one year without giving any support. Kristine L. Alave, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Faris Al-Kawadri, 29, was nabbed Monday inside his hotel room in Makati City, the bureau’s intelligence and security chief, Alberto Braganza, said.
The agency said Al-Kawadri was responsible for the illegal deployment of Filipino women to Middle East.
The BI official said they found the passports of three women from Mindanao in the suspect’s room.
“He will thus be deported for working here without the required permit and visa and for being an undesirable alien,” Braganza said.
When asked about the passports, Al-Kawadri said the travel documents were given to him by a placement agency based in Ermita for processing. The three women who owned the passports were supposed to leave for Saudi Arabia as contract workers, he said.
Aside from the illegal recruitment charges, Al-Kawadri was also accused of maltreating his Filipino wife.
Al-Kawadri’s wife reported his activities to bureau and helped in his arrest.
In her complaint, Al-Kawadri’s wife alleged that her husband abandoned her and their one-and-a-half-year-old son for one year without giving any support. Kristine L. Alave, Philippine Daily Inquirer
DFA warns of illegal recruitment scam in Spain
February 16, 2010, MANILA, Philippines — An illegal recruitment operation is currently being perpetrated by a syndicate using Spain as a destination for Filipino workers, the Philippine embassy in Spain said in its report to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The embassy named the company allegedly recruiting Filipino workers under this scheme as Previsto Ferrocariel Guiscoanagin, with address at Calle Placentinos 18B, 32005, Barcelona, Spain.
The syndicate is using the email address espanolconsulate@europe.com to communicate with Filipino workers and lead them to believe that this is the e-mail address of the Philippine embassy in Madrid.
The Philippine consulate general in Barcelona has verified that there is no such address in Barcelona. There is a Calle de los Placentinos in the province of Salamanca, while the zip code 32005 corresponds to the province of Ourense, not Catalonia.
The public is advised to be wary of job offers from this company and to first check the veracity of any job offer and company with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in the country concerned, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, or the Department of Labor and Employment. - INQUIRER.net
The embassy named the company allegedly recruiting Filipino workers under this scheme as Previsto Ferrocariel Guiscoanagin, with address at Calle Placentinos 18B, 32005, Barcelona, Spain.
The syndicate is using the email address espanolconsulate@europe.com to communicate with Filipino workers and lead them to believe that this is the e-mail address of the Philippine embassy in Madrid.
The Philippine consulate general in Barcelona has verified that there is no such address in Barcelona. There is a Calle de los Placentinos in the province of Salamanca, while the zip code 32005 corresponds to the province of Ourense, not Catalonia.
The public is advised to be wary of job offers from this company and to first check the veracity of any job offer and company with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in the country concerned, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, or the Department of Labor and Employment. - INQUIRER.net
Pedicab driver nabbed for illegal recruitment
January 20, 2010, MANILA, Philippines--Police arrested a tricyle driver after he allegedly collected P100,000 each from eight people to whom he promised jobs in Canada that proved to be nonexistent.
Supt. Jose Hidalgo, director of Manila Police District Station 5 in Ermita, said the suspect, Alexander Abuan, was arrested on Monday while receiving marked money from a prospective victim.
According to the police, Abuan, 47, of Dolores, Quezon, collected the money between April and October last year, telling his victims that he was a representative of MedRP International Philippines Inc.
Abuan reportedly promised the jobseekers that they would be leaving in November 2009 for high-paying positions in a factory in Canada, but this did not materialize.
Police identified those who were promised jobs as Marlon Velasquez, 32; Melody Velasquez, 34; Michael Vincent Fransisco; 27; Ruth Espinosa, 25; Vienna Katherine Rivera, 22; Rosalie Vinas Juan, 34; Reymund Santos, 25; and Marisol Cruz, 27.
Exasperated, the jobseekers went to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency where they found out that MedRP International Philippines Inc. was not accredited to deploy workers abroad.
The victims sought the help of the police who then set up an entrapment operation to catch Abuan who was later nabbed inside a fastfood establishment on Taft Avenue near Pedro Gil, Manila.
Police named Abuan’s alleged accomplices as Benjamin and Mariel Chua, owners of MedRP, and fellow representatives Haber Yusop, Rhea Yusop, and Jovita Pongan.
Large-scale estafa and illegal recruitment charges have been filed against Abuan and the other suspects who remain at large. Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Supt. Jose Hidalgo, director of Manila Police District Station 5 in Ermita, said the suspect, Alexander Abuan, was arrested on Monday while receiving marked money from a prospective victim.
According to the police, Abuan, 47, of Dolores, Quezon, collected the money between April and October last year, telling his victims that he was a representative of MedRP International Philippines Inc.
Abuan reportedly promised the jobseekers that they would be leaving in November 2009 for high-paying positions in a factory in Canada, but this did not materialize.
Police identified those who were promised jobs as Marlon Velasquez, 32; Melody Velasquez, 34; Michael Vincent Fransisco; 27; Ruth Espinosa, 25; Vienna Katherine Rivera, 22; Rosalie Vinas Juan, 34; Reymund Santos, 25; and Marisol Cruz, 27.
Exasperated, the jobseekers went to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency where they found out that MedRP International Philippines Inc. was not accredited to deploy workers abroad.
The victims sought the help of the police who then set up an entrapment operation to catch Abuan who was later nabbed inside a fastfood establishment on Taft Avenue near Pedro Gil, Manila.
Police named Abuan’s alleged accomplices as Benjamin and Mariel Chua, owners of MedRP, and fellow representatives Haber Yusop, Rhea Yusop, and Jovita Pongan.
Large-scale estafa and illegal recruitment charges have been filed against Abuan and the other suspects who remain at large. Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Woman nabbed for illegal recruitment
June 23, 2010 - A woman was arrested in her apartment in barangay Labangon, Cebu City for allegedly engaging in illegal recruitment.
Mariam Hasam, 51, was arrested Monday night in an entrapment operation. She transacted with a policeman who posed as an applicant.
According to police investigation, Hasam's husband was an Arabian national and shareholder of Royal Mont Hotel in Canada.
The woman told police that she only wanted to help her husband find workers for the hotel and this way help some people find work abroad.
Hasam told police that she did not know that she had to secure a permit from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for her efforts.
Hasam said she did the direct recruiting and her husband would give final approval.
She said the hotel would shoulder the cost of the applicant's trip to Canada.
Working permits or working visas for the accepted applicants would be processed once they arrive in Canada, the woman said.
Hasam said she would require applicants to pay P5,000 for their medical examination.
She said she had already sent several people to Canada for work.
The police set up the entrapment after six persons reported to the police that the woman issued them dubious receipts after paying for their medical examinations.
One complainant said she and her husband learned about Hasam’s direct hiring from their neighbors.
She said they were offered jobs as chamber maids and room boys in the Royal Mont Hotel.
The complainant said they pawned their motorcycle for P10,000 when Hasam asked them to pay P5,000 so their applications would be processed right away.
The woman said they were surprised when after making payment, the woman only gave them a handwritten acknowledgment which served as a receipt.
The woman said Hasam also showed them a copy of their supposed contract which showed several errors.
Hasam was detained at the Punta Princesa police station while charges are being readied against her, said police. - Carine M. Asutilla, Cebu Daily News/Inquirer.net
Mariam Hasam, 51, was arrested Monday night in an entrapment operation. She transacted with a policeman who posed as an applicant.
According to police investigation, Hasam's husband was an Arabian national and shareholder of Royal Mont Hotel in Canada.
The woman told police that she only wanted to help her husband find workers for the hotel and this way help some people find work abroad.
Hasam told police that she did not know that she had to secure a permit from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for her efforts.
Hasam said she did the direct recruiting and her husband would give final approval.
She said the hotel would shoulder the cost of the applicant's trip to Canada.
Working permits or working visas for the accepted applicants would be processed once they arrive in Canada, the woman said.
Hasam said she would require applicants to pay P5,000 for their medical examination.
She said she had already sent several people to Canada for work.
The police set up the entrapment after six persons reported to the police that the woman issued them dubious receipts after paying for their medical examinations.
One complainant said she and her husband learned about Hasam’s direct hiring from their neighbors.
She said they were offered jobs as chamber maids and room boys in the Royal Mont Hotel.
The complainant said they pawned their motorcycle for P10,000 when Hasam asked them to pay P5,000 so their applications would be processed right away.
The woman said they were surprised when after making payment, the woman only gave them a handwritten acknowledgment which served as a receipt.
The woman said Hasam also showed them a copy of their supposed contract which showed several errors.
Hasam was detained at the Punta Princesa police station while charges are being readied against her, said police. - Carine M. Asutilla, Cebu Daily News/Inquirer.net
36 arrested for illegal recruitment
September 22, 2010, MANILA, Philippines –Thirty-six people, including three foreigners, were arrested for illegal recruitment in an entrapment operation by members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Makati City on Tuesday, police reports showed Wednesday.
Two British nationals, one Kenyan and the Filipino staff of the employment agency International Student Advisors 4 U Incorporated were the subjects of complaints by sixteen of their applicants, police said.
Arrested by the authorities were Timothy Malcolm Sargeant, Karen Denise Wood, both British nationals; and Kenyan Paul Maundu Nyamai. The Filipinos were not identified.
CIDG Director Leon Nilo dela Cruz said the applicants complained after their visa applications were denied by the embassy of the United Kingdom.
Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, CIDG Anti-Transnational Crimes Division chief police, said that the suspects extorted application processing fees from their victims from P300,000 to P370,000 each.
The agency allegedly promised the applicants work as medical staff or caregivers but with student visas.
Police said that further investigation with UK embassy showed that there were no student programs in the UK universities. Karen Boncocan, INQUIRER.net
Two British nationals, one Kenyan and the Filipino staff of the employment agency International Student Advisors 4 U Incorporated were the subjects of complaints by sixteen of their applicants, police said.
Arrested by the authorities were Timothy Malcolm Sargeant, Karen Denise Wood, both British nationals; and Kenyan Paul Maundu Nyamai. The Filipinos were not identified.
CIDG Director Leon Nilo dela Cruz said the applicants complained after their visa applications were denied by the embassy of the United Kingdom.
Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, CIDG Anti-Transnational Crimes Division chief police, said that the suspects extorted application processing fees from their victims from P300,000 to P370,000 each.
The agency allegedly promised the applicants work as medical staff or caregivers but with student visas.
Police said that further investigation with UK embassy showed that there were no student programs in the UK universities. Karen Boncocan, INQUIRER.net
6 jailed in Bicol for illegal recruitment
October 24, 2010, MANILA, Philippines—Six people were arrested and detained in Bicol after the labor department’s regional office in the area and the Public Employment Service Office (Peso) in Bulan, Sorsogan immediately acted on complaints of the victims, the labor department said in a news release.
Citing a report by lawyer Alvin Villamor, Department of Labor and Employment Region 5 director, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said a certain “Jeric,” allegedly the mastermind, a certain “Ruth,” who acted as the secretary of the group, and four other unidentified individuals were apprehended after they failed to produce the necessary documents from the company they were representing for them to recruit workers from Bicol.
“Upon investigation, Jeric turned out to be a former employee of SMART-PLDT who was terminated last April, while Ruth was never connected with the said firm. The four other cohorts were confirmed to be absent-without-official-leave from SMART-PLDT as of September 2010,” Baldoz said.
“It was actually the four unnamed suspects who spilled the beans on Jeric after they approached Bulan, Sorsogon Peso manager Analyn Diaz. Upon learning that Jeric was no longer connected with SMART-PLDT and that the same company treated them as AWOL when they went to Bicol, the four joined the applicant victims in filing a complaint with the PNP,” she added.
The report said the group claimed they were authorized to conduct specialized recruitment in any province for call center jobs in Metro Manila. They likewise advertised the vacancy in a newspaper with a promise of a starting basic salary of P15,000 up to P25,000.
Jobseekers from Bulan, Sorsogon and nearby areas hurriedly went to the recruitment area with hopes of landing jobs as advertised. Marvin Jubilla took a one-hour ride from Magallanes, Sorsogon to try his luck, while Jonell Navarro, an AB English graduate and a part-time tricycle driver from Bulan also applied and was accepted. Both realized they were fooled by the group even as one applicant was hired-on-the-spot and was promised a P1,500 daily wage.
Diaz, who was informed of an ongoing jobs fair in their municipality, grew suspicious of the activity as there were no permission issued to any entity to conduct a jobs fair in their area that time. Arriving at the recruitment venue, she posed as an applicant and began looking for appropriate recruitment permits from the group. The group was apprehended after failing to produce the necessary documents.
The apprehended suspects are facing charges of large-scale illegal recruitment, a no-bail criminal offense, as the local government in Bulan as well as the Bulan Peso are fast-tracking their arraignment. - INQUIRER.net
Citing a report by lawyer Alvin Villamor, Department of Labor and Employment Region 5 director, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said a certain “Jeric,” allegedly the mastermind, a certain “Ruth,” who acted as the secretary of the group, and four other unidentified individuals were apprehended after they failed to produce the necessary documents from the company they were representing for them to recruit workers from Bicol.
“Upon investigation, Jeric turned out to be a former employee of SMART-PLDT who was terminated last April, while Ruth was never connected with the said firm. The four other cohorts were confirmed to be absent-without-official-leave from SMART-PLDT as of September 2010,” Baldoz said.
“It was actually the four unnamed suspects who spilled the beans on Jeric after they approached Bulan, Sorsogon Peso manager Analyn Diaz. Upon learning that Jeric was no longer connected with SMART-PLDT and that the same company treated them as AWOL when they went to Bicol, the four joined the applicant victims in filing a complaint with the PNP,” she added.
The report said the group claimed they were authorized to conduct specialized recruitment in any province for call center jobs in Metro Manila. They likewise advertised the vacancy in a newspaper with a promise of a starting basic salary of P15,000 up to P25,000.
Jobseekers from Bulan, Sorsogon and nearby areas hurriedly went to the recruitment area with hopes of landing jobs as advertised. Marvin Jubilla took a one-hour ride from Magallanes, Sorsogon to try his luck, while Jonell Navarro, an AB English graduate and a part-time tricycle driver from Bulan also applied and was accepted. Both realized they were fooled by the group even as one applicant was hired-on-the-spot and was promised a P1,500 daily wage.
Diaz, who was informed of an ongoing jobs fair in their municipality, grew suspicious of the activity as there were no permission issued to any entity to conduct a jobs fair in their area that time. Arriving at the recruitment venue, she posed as an applicant and began looking for appropriate recruitment permits from the group. The group was apprehended after failing to produce the necessary documents.
The apprehended suspects are facing charges of large-scale illegal recruitment, a no-bail criminal offense, as the local government in Bulan as well as the Bulan Peso are fast-tracking their arraignment. - INQUIRER.net
Woman gets life for illegal recruitment
March 12, 2009, MANILA, Philippines – Nearly 12 years after she was charged in court, a woman was convicted of large scale illegal recruitment and sentenced to life imprisonment.
In a 10-page decision dated March 10, Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 52 ordered Milagros Mendoza to pay a fine of P100,000 and to shoulder the cost of the lawsuit.
Bunyi-Medina also directed Mendoza to return P161,000 and $4,000 to the four complainants who accused her of promising them jobs in a home for the elderly in the United States.
The four were among 13 people who claimed that Mendoza tried to recruit them between Nov. 25, 1995 to Feb. 20, 1997. They added that she was able to convince them to apply for jobs with her after she showed them documents that she owned a home care center in California.
However, a check with the Philippine Overseas and Employment Agency showed that Mendoza was not a licensed recruiter.
Her victims later sought the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation that conducted an entrapment operation, resulting in Mendoza’s arrest and the filing of charges against her in 1997. - Erika Sauler, Philippine Daily Inquirer
In a 10-page decision dated March 10, Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 52 ordered Milagros Mendoza to pay a fine of P100,000 and to shoulder the cost of the lawsuit.
Bunyi-Medina also directed Mendoza to return P161,000 and $4,000 to the four complainants who accused her of promising them jobs in a home for the elderly in the United States.
The four were among 13 people who claimed that Mendoza tried to recruit them between Nov. 25, 1995 to Feb. 20, 1997. They added that she was able to convince them to apply for jobs with her after she showed them documents that she owned a home care center in California.
However, a check with the Philippine Overseas and Employment Agency showed that Mendoza was not a licensed recruiter.
Her victims later sought the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation that conducted an entrapment operation, resulting in Mendoza’s arrest and the filing of charges against her in 1997. - Erika Sauler, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Manila government joins POEA drive vs illegal recruitment
August 30, 2008, MANILA, Philippines – The Manila government has joined the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in its drive against illegal recruiters by signing a memorandum of understanding that will, among others, institutionalize the holding of pre-employment orientation seminars in the city.
The MOU was signed by Mayor Alfredo Lim and POEA Administrator Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz.
Under the agreement, POEA, through its Public Employment Service Office (PESO), will regularly furnish the City Hall with updated lists of licensed agencies and provide information material on the campaign against illegal recruitment such as brochures, pamphlets, posters and copies of recent anti-illegal recruitment laws and regulations.
The POEA will also make available, on request, speakers from among POEA personnel for the seminars. Likewise, it will provide an updated list of government placement branch vacancies for dissemination to constituents along with travel updates and advisories.
The POEA also agreed to provide a courtesy lane for Manila residents in their application for jobs at the POEA Manpower Registry Division provided that such applicant is properly endorsed by the city-PESO.
For its part, City Hall committed to include in its respective programs an aggressive campaign against illegal recruitment; assist in the distribution/reproduction and dissemination of anti-illegal recruitment information materials; and provide venues and participants in the conduct of pre-employment orientation seminars.
Lim said they would also investigate any reported illegal recruitment activity and recommend to POEA the issuance of closure orders against any licensed recruitment establishment committing recruitment violations. - Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer
The MOU was signed by Mayor Alfredo Lim and POEA Administrator Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz.
Under the agreement, POEA, through its Public Employment Service Office (PESO), will regularly furnish the City Hall with updated lists of licensed agencies and provide information material on the campaign against illegal recruitment such as brochures, pamphlets, posters and copies of recent anti-illegal recruitment laws and regulations.
The POEA will also make available, on request, speakers from among POEA personnel for the seminars. Likewise, it will provide an updated list of government placement branch vacancies for dissemination to constituents along with travel updates and advisories.
The POEA also agreed to provide a courtesy lane for Manila residents in their application for jobs at the POEA Manpower Registry Division provided that such applicant is properly endorsed by the city-PESO.
For its part, City Hall committed to include in its respective programs an aggressive campaign against illegal recruitment; assist in the distribution/reproduction and dissemination of anti-illegal recruitment information materials; and provide venues and participants in the conduct of pre-employment orientation seminars.
Lim said they would also investigate any reported illegal recruitment activity and recommend to POEA the issuance of closure orders against any licensed recruitment establishment committing recruitment violations. - Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer
An anatomy of a massive illegal recruitment
The case of 137 Filipino drivers in Dubai
June 15, 2009, MANILA, Philippines—It all started last November with an ordinary flier which said: “4,000+ jobs for bus drivers in Dubai.” The paper ad offered a monthly salary of 5,200 dirhams or roughly P67,000. Thousands of these fliers were distributed by a local recruitment agency known as CYM International Services and Placement Agency at different bus terminals all over the country.
And so they came, bus drivers working for a well-known transport company, men who belong to other occupations but knew how to drive, former migrant workers who have worked in the Middle East before, and even a gym instructor. They left their jobs to grab what they thought was an opportunity of a lifetime.
CYM International, licensed with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), assured the driver-applicants that after a month’s training in Dubai, they would immediately report to work at the government’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) as bus drivers.
Lure of the lending firms
CYM charged each applicant a placement fee of P150,300, a violation of existing POEA rules that mandate a fee not beyond the equivalent of the worker’s one month’s salary.
From January to March 2009, about 137 workers were sent by CYM International to Dubai in three batches. Around 40 were left in Manila though they already contracted a loan from the lending company for which they have been harassed. Today, of the 137 drivers, 68 continue to languish in Ajman where they were brought to live in a tenement building right beside a garbage dump. The lucky ones were able to leave Dubai before their tourist visas expired, either to work in Qatar with the help of the Department of Labor and Employment or to return home, then go back to Dubai as legitimate, documented workers.
The Blas F. Ople Policy Center has been helping these drivers in their legal battles since April of this year. In our five years as a non-government organization helping distressed overseas Filipino workers, this is the first case of illegal recruitment and human trafficking that we have ever encountered of this magnitude and with such an elaborate system of deceit and connivance.
Nearly all of the applicants accepted by CYM who couldn’t afford the placement fee were referred to a lending company known as RJJ Lacaba Financing Corporation. A certain Elmer Lim, together with a loan officer of RJJ Lacaba, facilitated the transaction. In two days, checking accounts were opened, cash cards were processed, and documents an inch-thick, as well as more than 20 checks, were signed by the drivers.
Too many checks
According to the drivers, they were neither given time to bring home the documents to read nor furnished copies of whatever it was that they signed. Cabo, one of the drivers, said he and his companions went to Lacaba’s office in the morning and were still signing checks and documents well into the night. Tired, they begged off and asked to just return the following day.
The financing company obviously had some pull with certain banks. Its staff was able to withdraw from the cash cards of the drivers without their knowledge or permission.
When RJJ Lacaba Financing Corporation distributed cash cards from a certain bank to the drivers, the attached receipts showed that several withdrawals had already been made, leaving a balance below a hundred pesos. How could this happen, when their PIN numbers were supposed to be confidential and known only to the owners of these cards?
During a hearing of the Senate Labor Committee chaired by Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, a bus driver confessed that it was his first time to open a checking account. He simply followed all the instructions of the RJJ Lacaba loan officer. The postdated checks that he signed were all undated, he said. The loan officer asked him to sign several undated checks with two other co-makers.
Later on, the drivers’ pro-bono lawyer Reynaldo Robles, summing up all the checks issued by each of his clients, said he was surprised to learn that each driver-client of RJJ Lacaba owes an aggregate amount of P1.9 million as a result of checks supposedly issued not just to Lacaba but to two insurance companies as well.
Three checks made out to an insurance company by each of the drivers amounted to P345,000. On the day that they signed the checks, the drivers felt rushed into completing all documents and requirements, and their requests for copies of what they signed were denied.
‘Reprocessed’ job orders
As the checks started to fall due and demand letters were sent to their homes, the drivers, some of whom have since returned home, were shocked by the sheer weight of their financial obligations though none of them were ever hired as bus drivers in Dubai as promised by the agency.
CYM International Services and Placement Agency was listed by the POEA as an agency in good standing when the recruitment of drivers was going on. But CYM, which is managed by Connie Paloma, did not have a job order for 4,000 bus drivers to be hired by Dubai’s RTA, as its fliers claimed. It could not have such job orders because the global financial crisis had hit Dubai hard and as a result, RTA had a freeze-hiring policy in place. From the very start, the entire recruitment process was built on sand.
Still, CYM and its Dubai-based agency, Al Toomoh Technical Services Inc. went ahead with its hiring process, enlisting 11 other licensed agencies to “process” the papers of the drivers using different principals or employers in Dubai. This is why the drivers were given employment contracts on the day of their departure. These contracts stated that the 137 workers would be working in Dubai as merchandisers, sales executives, utility helpers, and other positions but not as RTA bus drivers.
All 12 licensed agencies are now under preventive suspension by the POEA.
Based on documents shared by the drivers with the Ople Center, only four workers were actually processed by CYM. The rest of the 133 workers were fanned out to different licensed agencies using job orders that were “reprocessed” or “repro”—a common practice among recruiters.
For a “repro,” an agency can lend the balance of its job orders to another agency for a fee. One agency owner admitted to a staff of the Ople Center that it received P7,500 per head as processing fee from CYM’s Connie Paloma.
“Reprocessing” enables the lead agency to shortcut the process and shepherd its applicants through the POEA without their papers being questioned because the job orders seem in order, at least on paper. Workers leaving under “repro” arrangements become instantly vulnerable to harassment and abuse by their employers and agents abroad because of the disparity in their work and visa documents.
Desperate housewives
The housewives of 68 remaining workers in Dubai have become desperate and continued to borrow money from friends and relatives for remittance to their husbands stranded in Ajman Camp—a pitiful and ironic reversal of roles.
What makes the situation extremely urgent is that out of the remaining 68 drivers, 18 have concrete job offers, this time legitimate, with Emirates Airline Catering. The 18 workers fear that a prolonged delay in the payment of fines could lead to another missed opportunity to earn in Dubai. Only one thing stands in the way of employment—immigration penalties amounting to a rough equivalent of more than P6 million, with daily fines tacked on as weeks pass.
Equally sad is the failure of the children of these housewives to enroll. “It’s so painful but we couldn’t do anything. Some people are even running after us,” one of the housewives said.
Despite their woes, the desperate housewives have found strength in each other, often calling each other up or sending text messages to give updates about pending cases or meeting up at the Ople Center in Pasay City to wait for news.
On Tuesday, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque informed the Blas Ople Center that the immigration penalties of the 68 remaining drivers in Ajman would soon be resolved as an outcome of his talks with Emirates officials last Sunday. The secretary had flown to Dubai for one day just to resolve the matter.
The drivers welcomed this good news with enormous relief and gratitude. Life particularly in Ajman Camp has become even more horrendous as only a single room in the entire building has a working air-condition unit. Because of the intense summer heat in Dubai, the drivers are also in dire need of drinking water, and are reliant at the Office of the Labor Attache for weekly deliveries of water as well as food and diesel to power the building’s electric generator.
‘Repro’ not tolerated
Secretary Roque has also ordered a crackdown on licensed recruitment agencies engaged in the reprocessing of job orders and other forms of illegal recruitment. The POEA decision to cancel the licenses of 12 agencies involved in this scam will undoubtedly send a strong signal to the industry that “repro” will no longer be tolerated.
CYM International Services and Placement Agency has been temporarily closed down. We are now awaiting the decision of the POEA on the administrative complaint for the cancellation of licenses for all 12 conspiring agencies. The drivers also filed a criminal case which is now pending at the Department of Justice.
On June 19, a second hearing will be held at the executive judge’s sala of RTC Manila on our petition for the complainants to be declared as pauper-litigants. Once this petition is approved, the case can be raffled off and hearings on the drivers’ class suit to nullify the financial transactions connected to this illegal recruitment scam shall begin.
Connie Paloma, the CYM’s operations manager who recruited all 137 bus drivers, remains at large and has been spotted one time in Dubai. The request of the Senate to the Department of Foreign Affairs for the cancellation of her passport has been submitted by the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs to their legal department for further study. - Susan Ople, Philippine Daily Inquirer
June 15, 2009, MANILA, Philippines—It all started last November with an ordinary flier which said: “4,000+ jobs for bus drivers in Dubai.” The paper ad offered a monthly salary of 5,200 dirhams or roughly P67,000. Thousands of these fliers were distributed by a local recruitment agency known as CYM International Services and Placement Agency at different bus terminals all over the country.
And so they came, bus drivers working for a well-known transport company, men who belong to other occupations but knew how to drive, former migrant workers who have worked in the Middle East before, and even a gym instructor. They left their jobs to grab what they thought was an opportunity of a lifetime.
CYM International, licensed with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), assured the driver-applicants that after a month’s training in Dubai, they would immediately report to work at the government’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) as bus drivers.
Lure of the lending firms
CYM charged each applicant a placement fee of P150,300, a violation of existing POEA rules that mandate a fee not beyond the equivalent of the worker’s one month’s salary.
From January to March 2009, about 137 workers were sent by CYM International to Dubai in three batches. Around 40 were left in Manila though they already contracted a loan from the lending company for which they have been harassed. Today, of the 137 drivers, 68 continue to languish in Ajman where they were brought to live in a tenement building right beside a garbage dump. The lucky ones were able to leave Dubai before their tourist visas expired, either to work in Qatar with the help of the Department of Labor and Employment or to return home, then go back to Dubai as legitimate, documented workers.
The Blas F. Ople Policy Center has been helping these drivers in their legal battles since April of this year. In our five years as a non-government organization helping distressed overseas Filipino workers, this is the first case of illegal recruitment and human trafficking that we have ever encountered of this magnitude and with such an elaborate system of deceit and connivance.
Nearly all of the applicants accepted by CYM who couldn’t afford the placement fee were referred to a lending company known as RJJ Lacaba Financing Corporation. A certain Elmer Lim, together with a loan officer of RJJ Lacaba, facilitated the transaction. In two days, checking accounts were opened, cash cards were processed, and documents an inch-thick, as well as more than 20 checks, were signed by the drivers.
Too many checks
According to the drivers, they were neither given time to bring home the documents to read nor furnished copies of whatever it was that they signed. Cabo, one of the drivers, said he and his companions went to Lacaba’s office in the morning and were still signing checks and documents well into the night. Tired, they begged off and asked to just return the following day.
The financing company obviously had some pull with certain banks. Its staff was able to withdraw from the cash cards of the drivers without their knowledge or permission.
When RJJ Lacaba Financing Corporation distributed cash cards from a certain bank to the drivers, the attached receipts showed that several withdrawals had already been made, leaving a balance below a hundred pesos. How could this happen, when their PIN numbers were supposed to be confidential and known only to the owners of these cards?
During a hearing of the Senate Labor Committee chaired by Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, a bus driver confessed that it was his first time to open a checking account. He simply followed all the instructions of the RJJ Lacaba loan officer. The postdated checks that he signed were all undated, he said. The loan officer asked him to sign several undated checks with two other co-makers.
Later on, the drivers’ pro-bono lawyer Reynaldo Robles, summing up all the checks issued by each of his clients, said he was surprised to learn that each driver-client of RJJ Lacaba owes an aggregate amount of P1.9 million as a result of checks supposedly issued not just to Lacaba but to two insurance companies as well.
Three checks made out to an insurance company by each of the drivers amounted to P345,000. On the day that they signed the checks, the drivers felt rushed into completing all documents and requirements, and their requests for copies of what they signed were denied.
‘Reprocessed’ job orders
As the checks started to fall due and demand letters were sent to their homes, the drivers, some of whom have since returned home, were shocked by the sheer weight of their financial obligations though none of them were ever hired as bus drivers in Dubai as promised by the agency.
CYM International Services and Placement Agency was listed by the POEA as an agency in good standing when the recruitment of drivers was going on. But CYM, which is managed by Connie Paloma, did not have a job order for 4,000 bus drivers to be hired by Dubai’s RTA, as its fliers claimed. It could not have such job orders because the global financial crisis had hit Dubai hard and as a result, RTA had a freeze-hiring policy in place. From the very start, the entire recruitment process was built on sand.
Still, CYM and its Dubai-based agency, Al Toomoh Technical Services Inc. went ahead with its hiring process, enlisting 11 other licensed agencies to “process” the papers of the drivers using different principals or employers in Dubai. This is why the drivers were given employment contracts on the day of their departure. These contracts stated that the 137 workers would be working in Dubai as merchandisers, sales executives, utility helpers, and other positions but not as RTA bus drivers.
All 12 licensed agencies are now under preventive suspension by the POEA.
Based on documents shared by the drivers with the Ople Center, only four workers were actually processed by CYM. The rest of the 133 workers were fanned out to different licensed agencies using job orders that were “reprocessed” or “repro”—a common practice among recruiters.
For a “repro,” an agency can lend the balance of its job orders to another agency for a fee. One agency owner admitted to a staff of the Ople Center that it received P7,500 per head as processing fee from CYM’s Connie Paloma.
“Reprocessing” enables the lead agency to shortcut the process and shepherd its applicants through the POEA without their papers being questioned because the job orders seem in order, at least on paper. Workers leaving under “repro” arrangements become instantly vulnerable to harassment and abuse by their employers and agents abroad because of the disparity in their work and visa documents.
Desperate housewives
The housewives of 68 remaining workers in Dubai have become desperate and continued to borrow money from friends and relatives for remittance to their husbands stranded in Ajman Camp—a pitiful and ironic reversal of roles.
What makes the situation extremely urgent is that out of the remaining 68 drivers, 18 have concrete job offers, this time legitimate, with Emirates Airline Catering. The 18 workers fear that a prolonged delay in the payment of fines could lead to another missed opportunity to earn in Dubai. Only one thing stands in the way of employment—immigration penalties amounting to a rough equivalent of more than P6 million, with daily fines tacked on as weeks pass.
Equally sad is the failure of the children of these housewives to enroll. “It’s so painful but we couldn’t do anything. Some people are even running after us,” one of the housewives said.
Despite their woes, the desperate housewives have found strength in each other, often calling each other up or sending text messages to give updates about pending cases or meeting up at the Ople Center in Pasay City to wait for news.
On Tuesday, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque informed the Blas Ople Center that the immigration penalties of the 68 remaining drivers in Ajman would soon be resolved as an outcome of his talks with Emirates officials last Sunday. The secretary had flown to Dubai for one day just to resolve the matter.
The drivers welcomed this good news with enormous relief and gratitude. Life particularly in Ajman Camp has become even more horrendous as only a single room in the entire building has a working air-condition unit. Because of the intense summer heat in Dubai, the drivers are also in dire need of drinking water, and are reliant at the Office of the Labor Attache for weekly deliveries of water as well as food and diesel to power the building’s electric generator.
‘Repro’ not tolerated
Secretary Roque has also ordered a crackdown on licensed recruitment agencies engaged in the reprocessing of job orders and other forms of illegal recruitment. The POEA decision to cancel the licenses of 12 agencies involved in this scam will undoubtedly send a strong signal to the industry that “repro” will no longer be tolerated.
CYM International Services and Placement Agency has been temporarily closed down. We are now awaiting the decision of the POEA on the administrative complaint for the cancellation of licenses for all 12 conspiring agencies. The drivers also filed a criminal case which is now pending at the Department of Justice.
On June 19, a second hearing will be held at the executive judge’s sala of RTC Manila on our petition for the complainants to be declared as pauper-litigants. Once this petition is approved, the case can be raffled off and hearings on the drivers’ class suit to nullify the financial transactions connected to this illegal recruitment scam shall begin.
Connie Paloma, the CYM’s operations manager who recruited all 137 bus drivers, remains at large and has been spotted one time in Dubai. The request of the Senate to the Department of Foreign Affairs for the cancellation of her passport has been submitted by the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs to their legal department for further study. - Susan Ople, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Heavier penalties vs illegal recruitment
January 20, 2010, MANILA, Philippines—Illegal recruitment will soon have a sharper definition under the amended version of the Migrant Workers Act of 1995, as Senate on Monday night adopted the bicameral conference committee report amending it.
The bicameral report expanded the definition of illegal recruitment to include reprocessing workers through a job order that pertains to non-existent work, work different from the actual overseas work, or work with a different employer whether registered or not with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.
The scheme, also known as contract substitution, has victimized many migrant workers who sign contracts here in the Philippines but execute and enter into new employment contracts upon reaching their destination.
Under the amendments of Republic Act 8042, reprocessing of job orders for OFWs is considered illegal recruitment and any person found guilty of illegal recruitment shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not less than 12 years but no more than 20 years, and a fine of not less than P1 million nor more than P2 million.
Moreover, if the illegal recruitment is considered an economic sabotage, the penalty is life imprisonment plus a fine of not less than P2 million and not more than P5 million.
Recruitment through “repro orders” both by licensed and unlicensed agencies was quite rampant in 2008, causing the deployment of 100,000 domestic helpers to Lebanon, Dubai, Jordan, and Syria.
The measure also expressly holds the governing board of the POEA accountable in the deployment of migrant workers.
Under the bill, government officials found responsible for the issuance of permits and allowing the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to countries that do not guarantee or comply with international labor standards shall suffer the penalty of dismissal from service or be disqualified from holding appointive public office for five years. - INQUIRER.net
The bicameral report expanded the definition of illegal recruitment to include reprocessing workers through a job order that pertains to non-existent work, work different from the actual overseas work, or work with a different employer whether registered or not with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.
The scheme, also known as contract substitution, has victimized many migrant workers who sign contracts here in the Philippines but execute and enter into new employment contracts upon reaching their destination.
Under the amendments of Republic Act 8042, reprocessing of job orders for OFWs is considered illegal recruitment and any person found guilty of illegal recruitment shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not less than 12 years but no more than 20 years, and a fine of not less than P1 million nor more than P2 million.
Moreover, if the illegal recruitment is considered an economic sabotage, the penalty is life imprisonment plus a fine of not less than P2 million and not more than P5 million.
Recruitment through “repro orders” both by licensed and unlicensed agencies was quite rampant in 2008, causing the deployment of 100,000 domestic helpers to Lebanon, Dubai, Jordan, and Syria.
The measure also expressly holds the governing board of the POEA accountable in the deployment of migrant workers.
Under the bill, government officials found responsible for the issuance of permits and allowing the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to countries that do not guarantee or comply with international labor standards shall suffer the penalty of dismissal from service or be disqualified from holding appointive public office for five years. - INQUIRER.net
Saturday, December 18, 2010
RP, Korea sign work safety pact
August 29, 2010: MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has signed a technical cooperation agreement in the field of occupational safety and health with the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (Kosha), it was learned.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz signed the pact for the Philippines while Kosha’s director of Technical Experts Department, Dr. Kwon Hyuck Myun signed in behalf of South Korea.
The agreement aims to help enhance the capability of the DoLE’s Occupational Safety and Health Center in promoting the safety and health of workers at the workplaces in the Philippines and South Korea. It will be implemented for three years, which may be extended upon mutual consent of both parties.
The agreement follows a number of work-related accidents that cost the lives of Filipino workers in the Korean-owned Hanjin shipyard in Subic last year.
In her remarks after the signing of the agreement, Baldoz said the agreement will usher in a healthful and safe environment for Filipino workers in many Korean companies in the Philippines.
For his part, Dr. Myun of Kosha said the agreement will also benefit Korea. It is a way for Korea to repay the technical cooperation it got from the Philippines during the Korean War. From now on, he said, Kosha will communicate closely with Philippine stakeholders on occupational safety and health concerns.
Undersecretary for Labor Standards and Social Protection Lourdes Trasmonte, who witnessed the signing of the agreement, said that she wants Kosha, through this agreement, to share its expertise in training, benchmarking, and replication of companies’ best practices.
The scope of cooperation under the agreement covers the exchange of experts for training and education, consultancy, seminar/workshop or for research program on topics of mutual interest to both countries, and exchange of technical information and materials on occupational safety and health free of charge or at a reasonable price.
Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC) Director Ma. Brenda L. Villafuerte, who provided a background prior to the signing of the agreement, said Kosha aims to forge similar agreements with all member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). She said that Korea had recently entered into technical cooperation agreements with Indonesia, Mongolia, Laos, and now the Philippines.
She said that under the agreement, a technical working group composed of representatives from Kosha and DoLE will identify activities that will enhance the capability of the labor inspectorate, particularly in conducting Work Environment Measurement (WEM). The group will also determine the kind of assistance that the Occupational Safety and Health Center needs in procuring the necessary equipment.
Aside from Trasmonte and Villafuerte, Occupational Safety and Health Center Director Ma. Teresita S. Cucueco and Labor Communications Officer Director Nicon F. Famerona also witnessed the signing.
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