Help urged for 137 Pinoy drivers stranded in UAE
MANILA, Philippines - A total of 137 Filipino bus drivers are currently stranded in Dubai after they were duped by their recruiter, a group said.
In a statement, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center said that one of the drivers, Claro Oliver of Rizal, contacted them to report the alleged “injustice" made against them by their recruiter CYM International Services and Placement Agency, Inc.
He said the manpower agency promised them good-paying jobs at Dubai’s government transport agency – the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
The drivers reportedly paid as much as P150,000, only to be granted non-existent jobs last January. Since then, they have been waiting in Dubai to be hired by the RTA.
However, they still haven’t been granted the promised jobs and their passports are also allegedly being held by the foreign counterpart of their local agency in Dubai – preventing them from applying for new jobs.
“Their biggest worry is how they can repay the lending agency. If they come home, whatever they earn as bus drivers won’t be enough to pay off their loans and still sustain the needs of their families," said Center chief Susan Ople.
The Center said that the drivers are currently living off donations from the Filipino community in Dubai.
Despite this, Administrator Jennifer Manalili of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said that only 13 of the 137 drivers want to go back to the Philippines while the rest have opted to stay in Dubai.
“Nakipagpulong kami ni OWWA Administrator [Carmellita] Dimzon sa mga drivers sa Ajman dito sa UAE and about 13 of them may tickets na pauwi but some do not want to go home," Manalili said in a text message.
[Together with OWWA Administrator Dimzon, we met with the drivers in Ajman, UAE. About 13 of them already have tickets to the Philippines but some do not want to go home]
The Philippine Overseas Labor Office is reportedly coordinating with some companies in Dubai who might want to employ the drivers.
“Yung iba na hindi gustong umuwi tinutulungan na ng POLO na makahanap ng trabaho sa ibang company [POLO is helping the drivers who don’t want to go home get jobs]," she said.
The POEA chief was among the senior officials of the Department of Labor and Employment part of the delegation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who left the country last week.
The case vs the agency
Ople said she has already urged the POEA to immediately investigate and if possible, suspend the local agency and its counterpart in Dubai, Al Toomoh Technical Services.
“The sheer number of victims involved constitutes an act of economic sabotage by this licensed agency. We urge immediate action and for the owners of the agency to be barred from leaving the country," she said.
GMANews.TV tried contacting CYM for comment but was told that no person was available to speak for the company as of posting time.
Records from the POEA, on the other hand, indicate that the agency is still “in good standing" – meaning that no charges have yet been formally lodged against them.
But Manalili said they are now preparing the suspension order for CYM since “it is clear that the agency committed violations for deploying the workers without the valid job orders."
“Kinunan ko na sila ng statements or affidavits laban sa agency. But before this may report na ang ating POLO….and based on the reports and affidavits we are preparing an order of preventive suspension," she said.
[I have already taken statements and affidavits from the drivers against the agency. POLO has already made a report…and based on the reports and affidavits, we are preparing an order of preventive suspension]
In addition, Ople said she is just awaiting documents from the bus drivers that would help them speed up the POEA’s investigation of the alleged illegal recruitment practices of CYM.
She said the Filipino community has even lent the drivers a photocopy machine so that they can consolidate and reproduce all the documents needed to bolster their case.
In a separate statement, Vice President Noli De Castro – as chairman of the Anti-Illegal Recruitment Task Force – vowed to investigate the case of the 137 Filipinos.
He assured them that “legal actions would be taken against persons responsible on the matter." - GMANews.TV
In a statement, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center said that one of the drivers, Claro Oliver of Rizal, contacted them to report the alleged “injustice" made against them by their recruiter CYM International Services and Placement Agency, Inc.
He said the manpower agency promised them good-paying jobs at Dubai’s government transport agency – the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
The drivers reportedly paid as much as P150,000, only to be granted non-existent jobs last January. Since then, they have been waiting in Dubai to be hired by the RTA.
However, they still haven’t been granted the promised jobs and their passports are also allegedly being held by the foreign counterpart of their local agency in Dubai – preventing them from applying for new jobs.
“Their biggest worry is how they can repay the lending agency. If they come home, whatever they earn as bus drivers won’t be enough to pay off their loans and still sustain the needs of their families," said Center chief Susan Ople.
The Center said that the drivers are currently living off donations from the Filipino community in Dubai.
Despite this, Administrator Jennifer Manalili of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said that only 13 of the 137 drivers want to go back to the Philippines while the rest have opted to stay in Dubai.
“Nakipagpulong kami ni OWWA Administrator [Carmellita] Dimzon sa mga drivers sa Ajman dito sa UAE and about 13 of them may tickets na pauwi but some do not want to go home," Manalili said in a text message.
[Together with OWWA Administrator Dimzon, we met with the drivers in Ajman, UAE. About 13 of them already have tickets to the Philippines but some do not want to go home]
The Philippine Overseas Labor Office is reportedly coordinating with some companies in Dubai who might want to employ the drivers.
“Yung iba na hindi gustong umuwi tinutulungan na ng POLO na makahanap ng trabaho sa ibang company [POLO is helping the drivers who don’t want to go home get jobs]," she said.
The POEA chief was among the senior officials of the Department of Labor and Employment part of the delegation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who left the country last week.
The case vs the agency
Ople said she has already urged the POEA to immediately investigate and if possible, suspend the local agency and its counterpart in Dubai, Al Toomoh Technical Services.
“The sheer number of victims involved constitutes an act of economic sabotage by this licensed agency. We urge immediate action and for the owners of the agency to be barred from leaving the country," she said.
GMANews.TV tried contacting CYM for comment but was told that no person was available to speak for the company as of posting time.
Records from the POEA, on the other hand, indicate that the agency is still “in good standing" – meaning that no charges have yet been formally lodged against them.
But Manalili said they are now preparing the suspension order for CYM since “it is clear that the agency committed violations for deploying the workers without the valid job orders."
“Kinunan ko na sila ng statements or affidavits laban sa agency. But before this may report na ang ating POLO….and based on the reports and affidavits we are preparing an order of preventive suspension," she said.
[I have already taken statements and affidavits from the drivers against the agency. POLO has already made a report…and based on the reports and affidavits, we are preparing an order of preventive suspension]
In addition, Ople said she is just awaiting documents from the bus drivers that would help them speed up the POEA’s investigation of the alleged illegal recruitment practices of CYM.
She said the Filipino community has even lent the drivers a photocopy machine so that they can consolidate and reproduce all the documents needed to bolster their case.
In a separate statement, Vice President Noli De Castro – as chairman of the Anti-Illegal Recruitment Task Force – vowed to investigate the case of the 137 Filipinos.
He assured them that “legal actions would be taken against persons responsible on the matter." - GMANews.TV
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