POEA launches mobile app vs. illegal recruiters



(Updated 9:41 p.m.) Prospective OFWs who want to know if the agency they are dealing with is authorized to recruit workers can now take to their smartphones for “on the spot” verification.

On Wednesday, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) launched its own mobile application — or app — designed to give users instant access to information regarding recruiters and job orders.

“Halimbawa, may kaharap silang recruiter or yung nasa opisina sila mismo ng recruiter... mismong on the spot ay mache-check nila kung lisensyado o hindi [yung recruiter],” said POEA administrator Hans Cacdac during the app's launching in Mandaluyong City.

According to a report on “Balitanghali,” users may check if the recruiters are legal, suspended, or taken off the POEA's list.



Cacdac said through the app, “[i]t would be much easier for our people to have access to who is a licensed recruiter.”
 
The free app, which requires no registration, can be download using IOS or Google Play.
 
Aside from checking if a particular agency is legitimate, users can also check the job order of the agency using the mobile app. If they find anomalies, they may channel their complaints through the same application.
 
“Kasi posibleng lisensyado pero wala naman siyang order o di kaya mali pala yung job order o mali pala yung trabahong nire-recruit niya,” Cacdac said.
 
The app was launched in coordination with workabroad.ph, an online job portal.

Those without smartphones, meanwhile, can use a computer desktop and access the website of the POEA (www.poea.gov.ph), said Rhea Suiza, workabroad.ph sales and marketing officer.

Last year, 1.8 million Filipinos went overseas for employment, most of them in the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore, according to government records. Many of these Filipinos found jobs in the construction, oil, and hotel industries. — with Rie Takumi/KBK/TJD, GMA News

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