Makati firm ordered closed over alleged illegal recruitment of Pinoy workers for Poland

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has closed down an immigration consultancy office in Makati City over alleged illegal recruitment activities.

According to Oscar Oida's report on Unang Balita on Tuesday, the firm was allegedly recruiting Filipino workers for Poland without proper authorization.

"Human trafficking eh. Nagpapalabas ng mga worker as tourist, walang OEC, hindi dumadaan sa DMW, and then after that hindi natin alam kung kaninong employer mapupunta," said DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia.

(This is human trafficking. They deploy workers as tourists without Overseas Employment Certificates and without passing through DMW, and after that we don't know the employer they'll end up with.)

The DMW said the activities of the firm were tipped to them by the Migrant Workers' Office in Prague.

"Apparently the main office of the company is in Poland and also operates in Eastern Europe, so nagpapa-accredit daw ito ng mga job orders, nagso-source sila ng mga document ng mga worker and then pinapalipad either as a tourist or with student visa. Papupuntahin nila doon with a promise na makakapag-work naman sila doon," said DMW Assistant Secretary Francis de Guzman.

(The seek accreditation for their job orders and source documents from workers, and then they send these workers off either as tourists or on student visa with a promise of employment in their destination.)

The DMW also alleged that the firm is asking for an exorbitant processing fee from its customers.

"Around P100,000, on the average nasa P150,000 per head," De Guzman said, adding the amount excludes airplane ticket and documentation fee.

According to Joy Salve Belonio-Munnich, the firm's CEO, they are in the process of securing the necessary government documents but they ran out of funds.

"Siyempre hindi pa ako maka-ano sa POEA [Philippine Overseas Employment Administration] at DMW kasi kailangan pa ng P5 million (We could not apply to the POEA and DMW yet because we needed P5 million)," she said.

Officials of the company could face illegal recruitment committed by a syndicate charges. The offense carries a penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P2 million to P5 million.

Olalila, meanwhile, advised Filipino workers seeking employment in Poland to check the DMW website for legitimate recruitment agencies.   —KBK, GMA Integrated News