By Marita Moaje
MANILA – The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Monday shut down an office in Santa Cruz, Manila, allegedly involved in illegal recruitment activities that promised overseas jobs in Taiwan, Canada, and New Zealand in exchange for excessive placement fees.
In a media interview, DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said the closure order was based on complaints from at least three applicants who claimed Polaris Manpower and Documentation Services recruited them even though the company did not have a valid DMW license.
“Hindi bababa sa tatlong complainants na nagreklamo na biktima ng illegal recruitment. Meron silang modus operandi na nagpapanggap sila na mayroon silang koneksyon sa DMW at ang kanilang modus operandi ay government track daw (At least three complainants have reported being victims of illegal recruitment. They have a modus operandi where they pretend to have connections with the DMW, and their modus operandi is supposedly a government track),” Olalia said.
He said the order is the 11th closure operation conducted by the DMW this year, in cooperation with personnel from the Migrant Workers Protection Bureau (MWPB) and law enforcement authorities.
Olalia said before the actual closure operation, the DMW MWPB conducted weeks of surveillance after complainants reported being asked to pay huge sums for supposed overseas jobs under a “government-to-government” arrangement.
He said the recruiters allegedly claimed they had connections with the DMW to convince applicants that the offers were legitimate.
Olalia, however, said legitimate government-to-government deployments do not ask for a placement fee, adding that no private recruitment agency should be involved in government-to-government deployment programs.
“Una, walang dapat bayaran na placement fee kapag ito ay government-to-government deployment. Papunta ng Taiwan, New Zealand at Canada ang kanilang binibiktima (First, there should be no placement fee when it is a government-to-government deployment. They are victimizing people going to Taiwan, New Zealand, and Canada),” Olalia said.
“Pangalawa, pag pinangakuan kayo ng government-to-government na trabaho na ganito yung magiging recruitment wala dapat private sector participation dapat yan at ng recruitment agency. Ang DMW lang dapat ang inyong katransaksyon kapag government-to-government (Secondly, if you are promised a government-to-government job, there should be no private sector participation or recruitment agency involved. The DMW should be your only point of contact when it comes to government-to-government transactions),” he added.
Olalia said the victims allegedly discovered the offers online before being instructed to pay as much as PHP260,000 in placement fees for hotel jobs abroad, with promised salaries of up to PHP170,000 a month.
DMW Assistant Secretary for Sea-based OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) Concerns Jerome Pampolina, meanwhile, urged aspiring overseas workers to verify recruitment agencies through official DMW channels before engaging in any transaction.
“Itong Polaris ay hindi lisensyado, wala itong koneksyon na kahit ano sa (This Polaris is unlicensed, it has no connection whatsoever to the) Department of Migrant Workers,” he said.
He also warned applicants against agencies collecting large placement fees without contracts, which he noted is a “big red flag”.
The closure order stated that Polaris Manpower and Documentation Services, Yolanda Naag, and other responsible officers would be included in the government’s List of Persons with Derogatory Records, barring them from participating in overseas recruitment activities.
The DMW said it will also pursue criminal charges for illegal recruitment against those behind the operation. (PNA)
