Language training center in Baguio shut down for alleged illegal recruitment

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has ordered the closure of a Japanese language training center in Baguio City for alleged illegal recruitment activities.

According to the DMW, the establishment was closed down Friday for offering jobs to Japan without the necessary government license to engage in the recruitment and placement of Filipinos for overseas work.

The DMW's surveillance operations showed that the center was allegedly recruiting Japanese language training graduates as farmers, caregivers, factory workers, and food processing workers for employment in Japan, with salaries ranging from P80,000 to P100,000.

Operatives of the department, in coordination with the city police, padlocked the center at Quezon Hill Proper, Baguio City.

The establishment "is neither licensed and authorized by the DMW to recruit and place Filipino workers nor does have any approved job orders to Japan. Ito ay malinaw na illegal recruitment ng ating mga kababayan na nais magtrabaho sa Japan (This is clearly illegal recruitment of our countrymen who want to work in Japan)," DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said in a statement Saturday.

The closure stemmed from a complaint filed by a job applicant, who was recruited to work in Japan and paid more than P57,000 for his plane ticket, service fee, and visa processing.

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, the DMW said, has ordered the cancellation of the training center's business permit and license.

The DMW is set to file syndicated illegal recruitment case against the officers and employees of the training center.

They will also be included in DMW's List of Persons and Establishments with Derogatory Record, the department said, to prevent them from participating in the government's overseas recruitment program. — VDV, GMA Integrated News