DMW to run after recruitment agencies charging fees for Qatar-bound workers By GISELLE OMBAY, GMA Integrated News

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Tuesday it will hunt recruitment agencies that are requiring “processing fees” or any kind of service fee from Filipinos intending to work in Qatar. At the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum, DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac reiterated the “no placement fee policy” for Filipino workers set to be deployed to Qatar. “May konsepto sa batas, hindi masyadong mahalaga ang tawag do’n sa bagay na ‘yun kundi ano ‘yung gamit o purpose nung paniningil o pananaga—if I could use that term,” said Cacdac, who is a lawyer himself. (There is a concept in the law; the name of a thing is not very important, but its use or purpose.) “Ang esensya nito, hindi pwedeng maningil ang recruitment agency for their services doon sa job applicant kasi bawal on both sides—the Qatari side and the Philippine side,” he added. (The essence of this is that the recruitment agency cannot charge the job applicant for their services because it is prohibited on both sides—the Qatari side and the Philippine side.) According to the DMW, the “no placement fee policy” is in accordance with Article 33 of Qatar Law No. 14 of 2004. Qatar Law prohibits licensed recruitment agencies from collecting payment for recruitment fees, expenses, or other associated costs from workers coming from abroad. It was raised to Cacdac during the Kapihan session that some recruitment agencies use the term “processing fee" for collecting money from Filipino workers instead of “placement fee.” The DMW chief said regardless of the word used, the practice is still considered “illegal.'' “Kung ang tawag diyan ay processing fee, kahit ano pang tawag diyan, pero ang purpose ay para bayaran ang agency sa kaniyang serbisyo o kita ng isang agency do’n sa pagbigay niya ng serbisyo, ‘yan ay bawal kasi ang patakaran on both sides is employer-based principle, which means dapat sinisingil yan do’n sa employer na makikinabang sa serbisyo ng OFW,” he said. (If that's called a processing fee or whatever, but the purpose is to pay the agency for its service, then that's prohibited because the policy is based on an employer-based principle, which means that the fee should be charged to the employer who will benefit from the OFW's service.) “So whatever the name of the fee is called, if it is along those same lines or purpose, then that’s illegal, and we will run after the agency that does so, that charges those fees,” he continued. The DMW had said that those who violate the no placement fee policy will face a penalty of cancellation of license. — VBL, GMA Integrated News

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