Almost 80 Chinese found working at Bulacan factory without work papers

Almost 80 Chinese have been taken into custody by the National Bureau of Investigation for allegedly working at a factory in Bulacan without the necessary documents.

According to Jamie Santos' report on "24 Oras,"  the NBI Bulacan District Office launched an operation after receiving a report regarding foreigners employed at the factory in Bulacan.

In an operation with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), the NBI took custody of undocumented employees, employees working under a tourist visa, and six company officials.

“We have some persons that have legal working permits and some who are still in the process of applying for the permit. And some they don’t have… just sending the documents and the passport to the third party,” said an employee.

The NBI said that it would charge whoever hired the foreigners and that it would coordinate with the BI on an investigation into how the foreign nationals arrived in the country.

“Nakakaalarma… Una, maaaring itong corporation ay legitimate but then they are employing Chinese people na pwede naman ang Pilipino, so napre-prejudice ang ating mga Pilipino kasi isa sa mga reason kung bakit pwede magemploy ng foreigner ay kapag di kaya ng Filipino skill, but then nakita namin gumagawa lang ng mga malalaking pipe. Bakit naman kailangang foreigner pa? They will be held answerable… Hindi humihinto ang ating mga operatiba sa pagmamanman sa ganitong mga klaseng kumpanya,” said NBI Director Jaime Santiago.

(It is alarming… First, this corporation may be legitimate but then they are employing Chinese people when they could have fired Filipinos, so Filipinos are being prejudiced because one of the reasons why they can hire foreigners is if Filipino skills could not take it, but then we saw that they were just making large pipes. Why do they need to be foreigners? They will be held answerable… Our operatives will not stop seeking out these kinds of companies)

“Silang mga undocumented sa Pilipinas, yung possibility na trafficked sila is pwede,” added NBI Bulacan chief Attorney Emilito Santos.

(For these undocumented foreign workers in the Philippines, it is possible that are victims of trafficking.)

The foreigners were taken to the NBI headquarters for processing. —Jiselle Anne C. Casucian/NB, GMA Integrated News