‘Willing victims’ add to difficulty of fighting illegal recruiters —DOLE


While ultimately not the reason for illegal recruitment, "willing victims" or Filipinos who know their recruiters are not licensed sometimes make it difficult to combat illegal recruiters, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.
In an interview on Unang Balita on Thursday, Bello added that even if Filipinos report these agencies, they do not participate in the cases, thus leading to recruiters walking away without a conviction.
"The reason na hindi natin nahihinto itong illegal recruitment racket na ito ay kadalasan—'di ko naman sinisisi sila 'no—alam na nila na mali yoong paraan nila, pero sumasang-ayon pa rin sila," Bello said.
"Pangalawa, 'pag nahuli 'yung illegal recruiter, may kaso. Pagdating ng panahon na inaresto sila, 'di na nagpapakita kaya bihira ang nako-convict sa illegal recruitment eh," he continued.
The secretary added that some agencies who had their licenses canceled merely change their names and continue to operate as if they still had legal rights to do so.
Bello hinted on Wednesday that the public will "hear something" in the future about illegal recruiters and agencies still operating in the country.
"Hindi muna for public information. It may affect some operations by the department," he said during a briefing at the Department of Labor and Employment.
DOLE began an investigation in November 2017 following reports of government employees benefiting from illegal recruitment.
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration administrator Bernard Olalia announced on Wednesday the cancellation of license of several recruitment firms for various violations, including violations of the provisions of the employment contract, substitution of contract, and non-payment of wages. —Rie Takumi/KG, GMA News

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