CLOSE to 200 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have already fallen victim to illegal recruitment activities offering bogus job offers to Italy, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said.
In a televised public briefing, DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said that almost 200 victims have already been reported, with the number likely to increase in the coming days.
"The two agencies have victimized almost 200 people now. And that only accounts those victims that are based in the country, and not yet the OFWs based in Italy that have been victimized," said Olalia.
"By next week, we will know more once our fact-finding team flies to Italy to talk to our OFWs victimized there," he added.
On late Thursday, the DMW announced the formation of a high-level fact-finding team that will probe the illegal recruitment scheme in Italy allegedly involving two recruitment agencies.
The two agencies were identified as Golden Power SRLS and Alpha Assistenza, both of which are registered businesses in Milan, Italy but owned and staffed by Filipinos.
“The information gathered by the fact-finding team will bolster the case build-up against these agencies for their illegal recruitment activities,” said DMW Officer-in-Charge (DMW-OIC) Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac in a statement.
Initial reports on the modus operandi of the two illegal recruitment agencies show that they find their potential victims in OFWs based in Italy.
These OFWs in Italy are then offered non-existent jobs for their unemployed relatives in the Philippines, and help them get work permits in Italy in exchange for expensive processing fees.
The placement fees reportedly range from €1,500 to €4,000 Euros (P90,000 to P240,000) per applicant.
The DMW chief urged other victims of Alpha Assistenza and Golden Power to come out and help hold them accountable.
"We cannot allow these individuals and companies to get away with their nefarious activities," said Cacdac. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)