By The SUN
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| Mabatid (in white) faces her accusers while two police officers listen |
Police were called Sunday morning by a group of Filipino domestic workers who asked that an ongoing Canada recruitment seminar at the Sunbeam Theater in North Point be stopped as it was being conducted illegally by a group of tourists from the Philippines.
The eight FDWs
also said they had been victimized by the people behind PCVC Opportunities
Abroad in February this year, when they were convinced to pay a total of
$18,700 each as processing fee for their student visa applications to Canada,
which they learned later on was not realizable.
Responding to
the complaint, the police interviewed Prisca Nina Mabatid, head of the PCVC (or
Pinoy Care Visa Center)-Opportunities Abroad, who initially claimed that she
was there only as a guest speaker, but eventually agreed to return the money of
the complainants.
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This was after
the police were shown a video of Mabatid’s staff collecting money from
applicants in Harcourt Garden in Admiralty on Feb 26, despite being told
initially that the transactions were made in the Philippines.
Mabatid told the
police that she did not know tourists were not allowed to carry out a business
or do any kind of job in Hong Kong, as she had conducted the same activities
in other places abroad like the Middle East, but was not stopped.
The police asked
both sides to sign a statement in which the investigation would be halted as of
that time, as Mabatid had agreed to return the money paid by the complainants.
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| Mabatid promised the complainants she will give their money back |
The police said
they would forward the case to the Immigration Department which is in the
better position to decide if prosecution is in order.
Among the people
the complainants pointed out as having taken part in the alleged illegal
activity is fellow domestic worker, Bryan Apostol Calagui, who promoted the two
seminars by PCVC-OA in his social media blogs, and even gave the welcome
remarks at both events.
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All of the complainants
said they were enticed to attend the briefing in February because of Calagui’s
frequent plugging of the “orientation” in his blogs and social media posts.
To their dismay,
they saw Calagui hastily leaving the venue after his speech on Sunday, so they
were not able to get the police to question him as well.
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| Calagui hurriedly left after giving the welcome remarks during the Sunday briefing |
The talks
between the two sides dragged on for about two hours as the complainants wanted
to go to the police station with Mabatid so they could file separate
complaints.
But Mabatid instead offered to return their money on Tuesday, which was met with immediate resistance by the domestic workers who
are only able to go out on Sundays.
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Her insistence
that they give her all their names, addresses in the Philippines, and the amount they were claiming also
rattled some of the complainants, who claimed that Mabatid had repeatedly warned
them that they would face legal consequences on their return home.
Both sides eventually
agreed to do it next Sunday, June 25, but the question of venue again sparked disagreement.
Mabatid wanted to meet them at the Conrad’s lobby, but the workers balked,
saying they wanted a more neutral place.
The problem was
settled after the two sides learned that Consul General Raly Tejada himself gave
permission for them to meet at the Consulate at 10am on June 25.
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| In the earlier recruitment, Calagui watched as applicants paid $18,7000 each in an Admiralty park |
Earlier, Mabatid’s
remarks that “Para naman kayong di Pinoy,
tumawag pa kayo ng pulis” or “Pera
lang naman yan, bayaran ko na lang” sparked resentment among the complainants.
One was so irked
she told the police, “Just arrest them, never mind if I don’t get my money
back.”
Most of the
complainants said they did ask for a refund earlier but were harshly told by
Mabatid’s staff that this could not be done.
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| EXTENDED TO JUNE 30!! |
They were
reminded that they signed a memorandum of agreement stating that they would not
file any case against Opportunities Abroad whatever is the outcome of their
visa application, and that the processing fee collected from them was not
refundable.
This was reportedly
the same thing that Mabatid cited on Sunday when she warned the complainants
that she would file cases against them in the Philippines for reneging on their
undertaking under the MOA.
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| Sunbeam Theater in North Point was packed with applicants during the Feb 19 recruitment |
What the applicants didn’t realize was that it would be a long, hard climb for them from that time on.
Despite being
assured by Mabatid that she would lend Php1 million to each of the about 500 people who
attended her first seminar to support their visa applications, her
staff told a worker that she should produce her own “alibi” or reason why she
had that much money in her account all of a sudden.
The worker said in reply, “Di pwede mag alibi sir, kasi ma-question kami ng IO (immigration officer) at after that ma-refuse ang student visa namin.” (We should not attempt to give a wrong alibi because the immigration officer might question us, and as a consequence reject our visa application).
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Another
applicant said he was thrown off by the long list of requirements he was meant
to comply with, when during the orientation when they were convinced to pay money
on the spot, Mabatid and her people kept assuring them that everything would be
taken care of.
One other
complainant said she had thought that they would have access to the Php1 million
“loan” that would be transferred to their accounts, but was shocked to learn
that the money will appear in their bank accounts for just a month once they
start their visa application.
Despite this,
they will be charged Php49,500 in “bank processing fees” for the month that the
money that they will never get to touch is parked in their accounts. They will also have to pay an additional Php100,000 as downpayment for their tuition or they cannot move to the next stage.
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| The fees shown did not include the full-year tuition which costs up to P800k |
Even if this tuition fee installment was included in the list of
payables shown them during the orientation, it did not set off alarm bells as
the OFW applicants were lulled into thinking that getting a student’s visa to
Canada was a breeze, and that the Php1M "loan" to them would pay for future expenses.
After hearing about the complaints Mabatid said there was a misunderstanding, and would tell her staff to go back to the applicants and correct the misinformation.
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| BASAHIN DITO |
In a video taken
during the February 19 seminar, Mabatid’s partner, lawyer Mark Russ Gamallo, could
be seen telling applicants that the tuition fee in the schools where
they would be applying with was between P400,000 to P800,000.
But he quickly
brushed aside the OFWs’ qualms, saying they should be able to pay this off with
the money they would make working on the side while studying fulltime, with
more to spare.
Gamallo later
told The SUN that the previous requirement that those on student visa in Canada
could work no longer than 20 hours per week was no longer applicable. He later
shared a Canada news report saying that the relaxed policy will last until the
end of 2023.
However, a
cursory check of the Canadian government’s website shows that the new rule, which took
effect on Nov 15, 2022 and will last until Dec 31, 2023, applies only those who
applied for a study permit (or extension) before Oct 7, 2022. After this date,
only those who applied for a study permit extension can qualify for the
privilege.
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| The promotional flyer for the Sunday event promised a wait of only 3 months |
This means that even if the Hong Kong applicants manage to hurdle all the difficulties and secure a student visa they will still have to worry about where to get the money to pay for their school fees, rent and food, not to mention what they normally send to the Philippines to support family members.
Twenty hours of working each week will barely sustain them during their stay in the country.
There is also the
question of whether using money that is not theirs to support their visa
application amounts to misrepresentation, even fraud, and as rightfully
argued by one of the complainants, could land them in serious trouble.
Asked whether
PCVC-OA was licensed with the Philippines Overseas Employment Authority, both
Mabatid and Gamallo said that they need not get the accreditation as they were into
visa consultancy and not recruitment.
Mabatid even
flashed a signed certificate from the Department of Migrant Workers stating
that her company was free to advertise its services in all media outlets. She
said the one who issued the certificate is a DMW regional director.
However, this appears contrary to a memorandum titled “Policy on Immigration Consultants” (Memorandum Circular 10, series of 2003) which is posted on the DMW website.
It states that: “Immigration consultancy agencies and similar entities which are based locally, are required to obtain a license in accordance with the guidelines as provided for in Part II, Rule I, secs 1 and 2 and Rule 2, secs 1 to 5 of the 2002 POEA Rules and Regulations, before they may engage in recruitment and placement activities, regardless of the visa under which deployment shall be made eventually.”
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| OFWs lined up in the rain to listen to how they can gain entry as student in Canada |
The MC also states that official receipts should be issued to applicants who should be charged only after they have obtained the EB3 visa.
This appears to be a grey area in the law, however, as visa assistance centers for tourists and other visa categories are able to freely operate in the Philippines. But the crucial difference is, if the student visa is promoted, as it was here, to gain backdoor entry to working in a foreign place, then regulation should be imposed.
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