Info campaign needed to address trafficking of Filipinos abroad —Ople

An information campaign targeting Filipinos seeking to work abroad is necessary to help protect them from groups that will recruit them to work as scammers, Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said Wednesday.

In a TV interview, Ople said that aside from Myanmar, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is also looking at human trafficking incidents involving Filipinos in Cambodia and Laos. She said they were able to bring home several survivors from these countries.

“We need an information and education campaign. Let’s not hide this in the darkness. The more we don’t talk about it, the more we try to downplay it, the more victims there will be,” she said in an ANC interview.

“It’s online recruitment. It’s when you are at home. This is different from going outside and meeting an illegal recruiter. Here, it’s just one on one,” she added.

An official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday that at least 47 human trafficking victims have reached out to them to seek help for their repatriation.

Senator Risa Hontiveros bared last week the case of 12 overseas Filipino workers in Myanmar who were rescued from a Chinese syndicate that made them work as scammers.

The lawmaker called on the Department of Justice and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking to investigate this scheme.

For her part, Ople called on Filipinos who are looking for job opportunities abroad to check with them first to determine if the agency they are applying to is on DMW’s list of licensed recruitment firms.

“I am appealing to everyone, to those na parang…kung ang alok ay seasonal work, six months, ang taas ng salary P40,000 up, and then ang sasabihin na you just be data encoders or customer service relations kayo, very vague, all they have to do is check with us sa Department of Migrant Workers,” she said.

(I am appealing to everyone, if the offer is seasonal work, six months, the salary is P40,000 up, and then they say that you will only be data encoders or in customer service relations which is very vague, all you have to do is check with us at the DMW.)

“We have a hotline…or basta may duda, huwag na kayong tumuloy, huwag niyo nang patulan [if you have doubts, don’t go there anymore],” she added.

BI orders probe

Meanwhile, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco has ordered an immediate probe into reports of Filipino trafficking victims being rescued from Myanmar.

“We will be coordinating with the Office of Senator Hontiveros to seek further information about this case. We are also interested to find out how these victims were able to depart despite stringent immigration assessment,” Tansingco said in a statement.

The BI commissioner earlier issued an advisory to immigration inspectors to conduct strict assessment of travelers departing for neighboring countries after receiving reports that Filipinos were being illegally recruited and transported to a third country to work as call center agents for a company that operates online scams such as catfishing.

“These human traffickers try to circumvent immigration assessment by adjusting their modus operandi. Oftentimes, syndicates provide fake employment documents and statements to their victims,” he said.

Tansingco said they are closely coordinating with the DMW and Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to update policies on trafficking and illegal recruitment.

In 2021, the BI reported it deferred the departure of 13,860 passengers for having improper documentation, and foiled 688 attempts of human trafficking and illegal recruitment at the country’s international ports.

Tansingco then advised OFWs not to accept offers online and apply legally through the DMW.

He also warned that administrative and criminal cases will be filed against any personnel proven to be involved in corrupt acts.

Remittances

Meanwhile, Ople said they are seeing a possible doubling of the money transfers from Filipinos abroad in the first quarter of 2023.

“I think we are looking at a sharp increase in remittances by the first quarter of 2023,” she said.

“Unless any cataclysmic event occurs, we are looking at perhaps…doubling of remittances,” she added, hoping that there would be no drastic changes in the COVID-19 situation to make this happen.

She cited the opening of the Saudi labor market and the new labor markets in Europe, and the acute labor shortage as among the reasons for such a development.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier showed that cash remittances or money transfers which coursed through banks or formal channels grew to a two-month high in September, amounting to $2.84 billion.

This was a 3.8% increase from $2.74 billion in September 2021. — with Richa Noriega/KBK/RSJ, GMA Integrated News