DMW shuts down illegal recruitment firm; illegal recruiters nabbed with help of complainants

August 12, 2022 The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has closed down an illegal recruitment agency in Ermita, Manila offering non-existent jobs in the Middle East, DMW Secretary Susan “Toots” V. Ople said. Ople said the Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch (AIRB) of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) padlocked last 29 July 2022 the office of Kharem’s International, an unregistered and unlicensed company posing to hire domestic workers, beauticians, and on-call cleaners for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Middle Eastern countries. At the same time, the Secretary said six illegal recruiters from Davao City were apprehended by their victims last August 3 and 4 in two locations in Metro Manila. The suspected illegal recruiters promised non-existent overseas jobs to 235 victims. The recruiters were the subject of a complaint coursed through the radio program “Wantedsa Radyo, Raffy Tulfo in Action.” The complainants were referred to the DMW. “We are serving notice to all illegal recruiters. Layunin ng DMW at ng administrasyon ni Pangulong Marcos Jr. na bigyang proteksyon ang ating mga kababayan na nagnanais magtrabaho sa ibang bansa. There will be no let-up in our campaign against illegal recruiters,” Ople said. Ople said the DMW had received complaints about Kharem’s International’s bogus job offerings in exchange for placement and other “advance” fees. The operation was conducted with the help of officials of Barangay 668 in Ermita, Manila. Ople said victims of Kharem’s International are advised to contact the POEAs Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch for free legal assistance in the filing of cases. Meanwhile, Ople said one of the six illegal recruiters from Davao City was apprehended by 109 of her victims at the POEA Building in Mandaluyong City. The victims were there to file a complaint when they spotted and cornered Vegloure Ragotero, one of the alleged sub-agent recruiters, inside the building. Ragotero is not connected with any licensed recruitment agency nor is authorized to engage in the recruitment of workers abroad. Ople said she has ordered an investigation into Ragotero’s presence in the building. As an offshoot of Ragotero’s arrest, another batch of 126 victims cornered her cohorts in front of a hotel in Pasay City. They were identified as Zahra Kaharudin, Alma Camasura, Maria Katherine Omambat, Connie Cosmod, and Glodie May Pandian. The suspected illegal recruiters are being held at the detention facility of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Anti-Transnational Crime Unit of the Philippine National Police. Charges of large-scale illegal recruitment, a non-bailable offense under Republic Act No. 10022, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, are being prepared against them. Ragotero and her colleagues have been recruiting male applicants as cleaners for Qatar, and female applicants as cleaners and waitresses for Bahrain. They allegedly entice job seekers with a monthly salary of more or less P40,000 in exchange for P25,000 representing supposed placement and processing fees, and plane tickets from Davao to Manila. Ople urged the public to always verify job offers with the POEA to avoid falling prey to illegal recruitment schemes. ###

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