Demafelis was victim of ‘deception’ —CIDG official



A top police investigator on Friday said that slain overseas Filipino worker Joanna Demafelis was a victim of "deception" when she was referred to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Global E-Human Resources Inc. by the woman who claimed having contacts in the recruitment agency.
Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Anti-Transnational Crime Unit (CIDG-ATCU) director Roque Merdegia Jr. said that Agnes Tuballes, the one who referred Demafelis, committed an act of deception because she was not an employee of the Mt. Carmel recruitment firm.
"Sila ay mga ahente lamang. Kumbaga, freelance agents," Merdegia said in an interview on "Dobol B sa News TV."
Earlier, CIDG Director Chief Superintendent Roel Obusan said, "There's already deception sa tao. Employee relationship nina Agnes Tuballes with Mount Carmel wala kasi 'di sila binabayaran."
Merdegia noted that CIDG-ATCU commonly encounters cases where OFWs are deceived by unlicensed recruitment agencies showing fake licenses, or by direct hiring schemes with deceptive contracts.
"Wala naman kaming natatanggap pa tungkol diyan sa sabwatan, pero kadalasan nga dito sa panlilinlang, panloloko, walang permit, hinihingan ng malalaking halaga, at pinapangakuan ng trabaho na hindi naman pala existing," he said.
Aspiring OFWs continue to take their chances on such schemes despite the recent string of controversies involving illegal recruiters.
On the other hand, Merdegia said that the surfacing of Tuballes brought the police one step closer to knowing how Demafelis stayed in Kuwait after her two-year contract had ended.
Authorities are also tracking down the people who recommended the employers suspected to have stuffed into a freezer Demafelis body after the crime that was only uncovered after a year.
Demafelis was supposed to return home to the Philippines after completing her two-year work contract  in Kuwait. Mt. Carmel had its license canceled in 2016, two years after deploying her in May 2014.
Not a suspect
Merdegia clarified that Tuballes was not presented at Camp Crame on Thursday as a suspect but a way for her to clarify her role in Demafelis' deployment to the Middle East.
"Hindi po siya suspect, pero nananatili po siya sa aming pag-iimbestiga. Kailangan makipagtulungan pa rin po siya sa amin, he said.
"Kung meron na pong reklamo na lumutang, at siya ang inireklamo, patuloy po ang aming imbestigasyon para malaman ang kaniyang, kung meron man, liability sa kaniyang (Demafelis) family," he added.
Aside from Tuballes, two former Mt. Carmel employees presented themselves to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Thursday to clear out suspicions.
Self-described trainee staff Marissa Ansaji Mohammad said she was tasked to give applications to aspiring OFWs and was never allowed to process application papers.
Also, Mt. Carmel's former assistant general manager Mary Gay Canlas Abrantes submitted a sworn statement to the NBI regarding the Demafelis case . —Rie Takumi/LBG/KG, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more