1 of 6 OFWs 'trafficked' to Iraq located, says VP De Castro

One of the six Filipinos reported to have returned to the country from Iraq has been located, Vice said on Thursday.

De Castro, concurrently presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), said Johnny Baviera has been found to be residing in Pasay City and whose testimony would be a key to the reported trafficking of Filipino laborers to Iraq.

He said Baviera was repatriated to Manila after he suffered a heart attack in Iraq.

The residence of another OFW, Marciano Cabacaba, had also been found but his relatives in Paranaque said he is still in the Middle East, De Castro said. Cabacaba is among the five OFWs earlier reported still in Iraq.

“Ang sabi nasa Iraq pa raw. Pero baka ayaw lang ipaalam ang kinalalagyan n’ya ng mga kamag-anak. Pero sana ‘yung mga na-recruit mag-file sila ng kaso para lumakas ang kaso natin," the Vice President said.

The six Filipinos being located are among 11 OFWs that First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting Company has admitted to hiring in March 2006 to work at the construction of the US Embassy in central Baghdad, even as the Kuwait-based firm denied the report ‘smuggling’ 51 Filipinos to Iraq.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion earlier reported that six of the 11 Filipinos have returned to the country and five are still in Iraq. On Monday, he said none of the six have been located.

If indeed the Filipinos were illegally recruited to Iraq despite the deployment ban, De Castro advised them to sue the recruitment agencies that sent them to the conflict-stricken Middle East country.

“Humihingi ng tulong si Baviera dahil nga sa kondisyon n’ya ngayon. At the same time, kung okay naman ang kalagayan n’ya kukumbinsihin natin siya na mag-file ng kaso at maging witness natin laban doon sa recruiters," De Castro said.

De Castro said the two recruitment agencies who have sent OFWs to Iraq through First Kuwaiti were Great Provider Services Exporters Inc., aka, Great Provider Placement Philippines Inc. and MGM Worldwide Manpower and General Services.

He said the two firms belong to the seven recruitment agencies serving as the local counterparts of First Kuwaiti.

“Based on the report submitted to me, these two agencies allegedly connived with the First Kuwaiti Company to illegally deploy Filipinos to where a travel ban has been issued by the government,’ De Castro said.

The Vice President said he has tasked the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs to track down the two firms to face investigation and possible charges.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that six of the 11 OFWs have already left Iraq.

The five OFWs still in Iraq are Samson Grande, Randy Ponce Santiago, Renato Campo Pangilinan, Marciano Cabacaba and Melchor Solis.

The six who have returned to the country are Baviera, Rixon Banaban, Alfred Carbonel, Ernesto Cortez, Andy Lamberte Pagpaguitan, and Marino Irlandez.

De Castro urged the OFWs to come forward and cooperate with the government in the investigation.

The Philippines banned the deployment of workers to Iraq in 2004 following the abduction of truck driver Angelo dela Cruz. - Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV

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