Senate to summon recruiter of 'duped' bus drivers in Dubai

abs-cbnNEWS.com

The Senate is set to summon the owner and officials of a recruitment agency that sent 137 Filipino bus drivers to Dubai.

Reports said the Senate’s Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development will subpoena CYM International Services owner Connie Paloma and the company’s directors.

The firm recruited the overseas Filipino workers to work as bus drivers in Dubai. However, the OFWs said they found themselves stranded in Dubai after learning that there was no job order for them.

One of the drivers Napoleon Santos recounted how they lived near a dump site with no electricity and had nothing to eat. They said that they had to compete with camels for tomatoes to have something to eat.

Santos and some of his companions already made it back home this month. However, there are still 115 others stranded in Dubai.

The drivers were allegedly asked to pay P150,000 each as placement fee. Earlier reports stated that some used their house and lot as collateral to come up with the amount while others resorted to borrowing money from a lending agency with interest and payable in 15 months.

In a committee hearing Wednesday chaired by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Director Alejandro Padaen said the recruitment agency is already under preventive suspension.

Estrada questioned how the agency continued to operate despite already having three previous cases pending against them.

Padaen explained that the agency has appealed the first case in the labor department while hearings are still on going on the other two cases.

Meanwhile, the task force of Vice President and Presidential Adviser on OFWs Noli de Castro has filed a criminal complaint against the recruitment agency while the drivers said they will file a civil case for damages.

Estrada meanwhile said he will attend a POEA hearing on May 5 where he hopes to meet and talk to the agency’s owner. Report from Timi Nubla, ABS-CBN News

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