Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Resolution of illegal recruitment is low: agency
DESPITE the decrease in the number of illegal recruitment cases in Mindanao, illegal recruiters continue to flourish while resolution of cases remains low.
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Mindanao head Francis Domingo said while illegal recruiters are getting richer because of the exorbitant fees they collect, most of the victims lose interest in pursuing their cases because of the threats they received from recruiters.
"Most of the illegal recruiters are wealthy that's why they have the reason to operate," Domingo said.
He said the reason why some illegal recruitment cases also remain unsolved is because of the threats the victims get from recruiters.
In 2005, out of the 124 cases filed, only one respondent was convicted involving a case in Davao City.
Domingo said illegal recruiters employ varied strategies and that the agency had monitored about 27 modus operandi.
He said recruiters offer visas to prospects either as tourist, student visa scheme or in the guise of being a religious or missionary passing mostly through the back door of Zamboanga then to Sabah as their jump off point.
Among the most common scheme illegal recruiters adopt, he said, is the visit visa in the guise of working visa.
"Ang internet ay ginagamit na rin nila at dapat malaman ng public na walang (they also use the internet and there is no) legal recruitment on line," he said.
Domingo said among the jobs offered were mostly caregivers, nurses, and factory workers.
He admitted, however, that no amount of advocacy campaign could address illegal recruitment if jobseekers would not cooperate with the government.
Domingo said they already received queries from jobseekers who want to verify the legality of the recruitment of some companies, which is an indication that they are getting aware of the implication of being victimized.
He said part of the advocacy campaign is the publication of the list of recruitment agencies operating in Mindanao, conducting seminar and lectures, radio broadcast, print releases and television report including production and distribution of information materials. (Philippine Information Agency)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (February 15, 2006 issue)
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