By Marita Moaje
MANILA – The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Tuesday shut down an alleged illegal recruitment agency in Binondo, Manila as part of its intensified campaign against labor trafficking and recruitment scams targeting Filipinos looking for overseas jobs.
The DMW’s Migrant Workers Protection Bureau (MWPB), in coordination with the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group – Anti-Transnational Crime Unit (PNP CIDG-ATCU), and CIDG Anti-Organized Crime Unit (CIDG-AOCU), carried out the closure order against MAXILUM Recruitment Agency, which also operates under the name Cell Venus Elite Workforce Manpower and Recruitment Agency Inc.
The MWPB said Maxilum was operating without a valid license.
“The agency offered jobs in Japan, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia despite having no approved job orders,” MWPB Director Eric Dollete said.
He said the recruitment agency offered factory and production jobs with monthly salaries ranging from PHP90,000 to PHP100,000 under a three-year contract.
The victims, he added, were required to pay placement and processing fees ranging from PHP35,000 to PHP72,500 through online channels.
Dollete, however, said none of the applicants were deployed or properly processed for overseas employment.
The agency’s owner, identified as Celisti Maxilum, was arrested in an entrapment operation on March 25, 2026, along with her Russian fiancé and two armed bodyguards.
To date, the DMW said this latest closure operation brings to eight the total number of illegal recruitment establishments shut down since January of this year.
MWPB Director Romelson Abbang has urged aspiring OFWs to verify licensed agencies and approved job orders through the DMW’s official website, www.dmw.gov.ph, before applying for overseas employment.
He also encouraged possible victims of illegal recruitment to seek assistance through the Migrant Workers Protection Bureau Facebook page or by sending an email to mwpb@dmw.gov.ph.
They may also call the hotline +63 2 8721-0619 for legal support in filing cases against illegal recruiters.
The DMW has been ramping up its efforts against illegal recruiters and human traffickers in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to strengthen protection mechanisms for OFWs. (PNA)
