Saturday, September 27, 2008 Agency blames employer for phony passports; Noli orders assistance to workers
IF FOUND guilty of possessing fake documents, no less than three years of imprisonment, as well as deportation, await the 23 Filipinos who were detained in Trinidad since Sept. 19.
But the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their recruitment agency in the Philippines disagree on who is to blame.
While the OFWs claim that Be Glad Worldwide Placement Agency (BGWPA) gave them fraudulent papers, the agency alleges that it was an employer in Trinidad that placed fake stamps on their passports.
Vice President Noli de Castro instructed the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to assist the 23 workers. He also told Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, who takes charge of migrant workers’ affairs, to consider the case a priority. It was the DFA’s regional office that reported the case to its central office, a DyLA report said.
In its version of the story, Tobago-based employer Multitask Maintenance Co. Ltd. called the OFWs’ allegations of maltreatment “a blatant lie.”
A group of 39 Cebuanos had gone to Trinidad and Tobago last June to work in the construction business under Multitask.
But after three months of alleged maltreatment from their employer, 22 of them left Multitask and sailed to the island of Trinidad, where a new employer reportedly awaited.
When they arrived at the port of Trinidad, though, they were detained for allegedly holding passports with fraudulent stamps, according to an incident report that Multitask sent BGWPA.
It was Multitask that informed Trinidad Immigration about the 22 workers’ trip, wrote Anderson McPhee, Multitask managing director.
McPhee added that one of the Cebuanos, Engr. Jacqueline Fortuna, led the group of electricians and construction workers.
The Philippines’ honorary consul in Trinidad & Tobago visited the engineer the other day and assured her that the consular office is already coordinating with authorities in that country.
Engineer Fortuna spoke by phone with her sisters Marisol and Linney and assured them that she is fine, sharing a cell with two others. She complained, however, about the food.
Jacqueline told her sisters that Dr. Marie Francisca Magno Advani, honorary consul, visited her together with their new employer, whom she failed to identify.
BGWPA supervisor Josefina Casianan denied accusations that Multitask denied the OFWs food, electricity, water supply and prompt wages.
On the contrary, it was the workers who caused damages, reported McPhee.
“The boarding house where the workers stayed was a total mess. They even destroyed the plumbing so that they would not have any water at the house and I got pictures of it,” McPhee wrote in his report to BGWPA.
Casianan claimed that Multitask was prompt in paying the workers’ salaries. Multitask also provided them with meals and air-conditioned housing, she said.
She denied that the BGWPA, which is accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, only gave the workers a “one-month waiver” instead of an authentic working permit.
“The work permit is valid as far as Tobago is concerned,” said Antonio Cabreros, lawyer for BGWPA. He explained that different immigration laws govern the islands of Tobago and Trinidad even if they are part of the same country.
Cabreros said he will leave for Trinidad & Tobago on the first or second week of October to seek assistance for the OFWs’ release.
But Engr. Fortuna’s sister Marisol could not believe the statements of Multitask and BGWPA.
“If BGWPA really issued authentic working permits, they should produce a copy,” Mirasol told Sun.Star Cebu in a phone interview.
She added that the relatives were also willing to dispute Multitask’s claims anytime.
Of the 39 workers, only 22 left for Trinidad. Six reportedly stayed with Multitask while 11 have yet to be located.
BGWPA explained that the OFWs were not immediately reimbursed for their airfare because of the time it took to process documents. They denied promising the refund upon the employees’ arrival in Tobago.
Sun.Star Cebu obtained a copy of Multitask’s employment agreement form, which stated that the airfare “will be reimbursed by the employer upon arrival at the destination.”
The Trinidad & Tobago Express, a local paper, quoted honorary consul Advani in a Sept. 26 report as saying, “I am now in discussion with the Ministry of National Security to have the matter resolved.”
Advani was further quoted as saying that the Filipinos were being treated well, “but have complained about the meals.”
The report stated that the Filipinos were held by immigration authorities while working on housing projects in Roxborough and Signal Hill, Tobago. (KAB/With OCP)
