77 Hinobaan residents probed for ‘illegal recruitment’
AUTHORITIES in Negros Island Region are investigating the alleged illegal recruitment of 77 residents, including a minor, in Hinobaan town, Negros Occidental.
They were intercepted in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental on April 27 after they arrived at the port on board two buses. They were en route to Zamboanga in Mindanao through a shuttle ferry.
Superintendent Jovito Atanacio, chief of Dumaguete City Police Station, said in a phone interview the group drew the attention of Philippine Ports Authority port police as they were “alarmed” by their number.
Authorities have been on alert amid the reported terror threat after the clash of government troopers and Abu Sayyaf bandits in Bohol on April 11, which killed three soldiers, a police officer, and five terrorists.
They were held for questioning, and profiling, Atanacio said.
He added that the 77 insisted that they were not illegally recruited, and that they were “willing” to work in Zamboanga.
Atancio said the residents also came to the police station Friday to clarify and have it on record that they were not forced to go to Zamboanga.
He said the group may have headed home after they left the police station Friday morning, adding that they did not go to Zamboanga.
For his part, Department of Labor and Employment-Negros Island Region head Joel Gonzales said in a phone interview that they have yet to determine if there was indeed an act of illegal recruitment.
Large-scale illegal recruitment have yet to be established, he said, although there’s a promise for them to get a job.
Atancio also added that they’ve learned about the job when the shipping company captain, a resident of Hinobaan, recently came home to attend a fiesta.
The residents asked him if there were jobs available in his work, Gonzales said.
He said the residents brought with them barangay clearances and cedulas, which were some of the job requirements.
“I will coordinate with my counterpart in Region 9, or Zamboanga Peninsula, to check on the company and if why they are recruiting from other regions,” Gonzales said.
He said they are also coordinating with the police, adding that they are waiting for the law enforcement agency to find probable cause for illegal recruitment.*