The SUN HK : Noise barrage held to demand swift action against illegal recruiters

Protesters call for end to human trafficking and illegal recruitment

Dozens of overseas Filipino workers joined a noise barrage called by United Filipinos – Migrante Hong Kong to urge the Philippine government to take swift action against a group accused of duping migrant workers of their hard-earned money with the promise of sending them to Canada on student visas.

The protest action was held outside City Hall in Central on Sunday afternoon, at the end of celebrations marking the 25^th founding anniversary of the Filipino Migrant Workers Union (FMWU).

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The group called on the government to file cases against former Cebu City councilor Nina Mabatid and her team from Pinoy Care Visa Center- Opportunities Abroad, as well as OFW blogger Bryan Calagui who is accused of promoting the Canada recruitment and personally assuring the applicants of the legitimacy of the operation.

Pindutin para sa detalye

They also want the alleged culprits to return the more than Php2 million in “processing fee” collected from their victims that now number more than 20, and to stop Mabatid and company from continuing their recruitment operation all over the Philippines and abroad, and from threatening the complainants with lawsuits.

PINDUTIN DITO!

Migrante International says it has collected sworn statements from over 200 other complainants across the Philippines and places like Oman, Saudi Arabia and Thailand who have also accused Mabatid and her PCVC-OA staff of fleecing each of them at least Php100,000.

All the complainants say that they were given the run-around after they paid money to the recruiters. Not one of them managed to get their visa application lodged with Canadian authorities, even if some managed to complete the long list of documents demanded by the recruiters.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Worse, Mabatid’s lawyer warned the Hong Kong complainants through mail and WhatsApp messages that they faced being sued for breach of contract and fined Php500,000 for demanding a refund, citing their supposed agreement that stipulated that the fee was non-refundable for whatever reason.

Protest was also against the OEC and the spiralling costs of fuel and food in the Philippines

At the same event, Unifil and its supporters also urged the scrapping of the overseas employment certificate or OEC, saying that with the Christmas holidays just around the corner, thousands of home-bound OFWs would again have to queue up for the document that they need to fly out of the Philippines.

The OFW Pass which is supposed to be phased in to gradually replace the OEC is equally hard to get, said the protesters, and could be used to exact other government fees from them.

Pindutin dito

The protesters also used the occasion to hit out at the spiraling costs of fuel and basic food items and their knock-on effects in the Philippines, and express support for the Palestinians caught in the crossfire between Hamas militants and the Israeli defense forces.