The SUN HK : Senate to hold inquiry on illegal recruitment cases

Tulfo will lead the inquiry into the illegal recruitment cases (File)

The Senate committee on migrant workers is set to hold a hearing on “massive illegal recruitment schemes,” including those allegedly perpetrated by groups controlled by former Cebu City councilor Prisca Nina Mabatid.

The Senate hearing, set for 10am on Jan. 30, will be presided over by Committee chair Raffy Tulfo, along with member Risa Hontiveros. It will be held at the same time as the bill on OFWs financial literacy enhancement authored by Senator Tulfo.

Among those invited to give testimony is Joanna Concepcion, chairperson of Migrante International, who plans to bring along complainants in Hong Kong and the Philippines against Mabatid and her company, Opportunities Abroad (OA).

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Also expected to take part are victims of the human trafficking syndicates who were enticed to go to Thailand for supposedly high-paying jobs, but ended up working as crypto scammers in Myanmar and other neighboring countries.

About 200 Filipinos, including those working in Hong Kong and other places abroad, as well as regular jobseekers in several towns across the Philippines, have filed complaints against Mabatid’s group with the Department of Migrant Workers and the National Bureau of Investigation starting in June last year.

The new wave of complaints came after about 20 overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong sought help from the police and the Philippine Consulate in June last year after paying about Php132,000 each to Mabatid who reportedly convinced them to apply for student visas to Canada.

Flyers posted on FB announced the 'orientation'' by Mabatid in HK on 2 days last year

Despite being promised in February 2023 that they could acquire the visa in just three months, the complainants said no one among them managed to get anywhere near being admitted to a school in Canada, despite completing the long list of requirements sent to them as a pre-requisite by OA staff.

A number of them also asked the OA handlers assigned to them via email if they could already avail of the P1million “show money” promised them by Mabatid to kick-start their applications, but they were told they needed to provide the “alibi” or proof showing that the money in the bank was theirs.

Hearing that Mabatid would return to Hong Kong in June to conduct another “orientation seminar” for the promised visa scheme, some of the complainants called the police for help in accosting her at the venue to demand a refund. She promised to give back their money the following Sunday at the Consulate, but she did not show up.

After they filed complaints, about five OFWs in HK received letters from a lawyer representing OA, threatening them with a lawsuit, saying they signed agreements barring them from seeking a refund for whatever reason.

TAWAG NA!

Hearing about their complaints, dozens of Filipinos from across the country also came out to complain against the same group, who also offered help in obtaining student visas to Canada for no less than P100,000 in processing fees, but were also left holding an empty bag.

According to the complainants, a big number of whom were from Cebu and Davao, they were enticed to sign up for the offer because the recruiters were helped by their local government units and the PESO (Public Employment Service Office) in their localities.

DWC OIC Hans J. Cacdac said as early as August last year during a meeting with Migrante and the complainants that he had already endorsed the case to the NBI, but no other developments have been forthcoming.

PINDUTIN

Separately, Senator Tulfo held a three-hour online meeting in December with the complainants and other individuals and groups helping them, and promised a full Senate inquiry.

He also asked the Department of Justice to look into the possibility of issuing hold departure orders against Mabatid and other alleged illegal recruiters so they could be stopped from recruiting more OFWs.