Pinoys warned against illegal recruiters in Macau

Filipino tourists and overseas contract workers in Macau were cautioned against illegal recruiters offering employment in mainland China by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday.

The warning came after a case of a household service worker who was duped by a fellow Filipino was endorsed to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The DOLE statement said a certain Pia Ciabacal supposedly offered the HSW, who entered Macau with a tourist visa and later gained employment, a similar job in Beijing with a monthly salary of RMB7,500 per month.

Once she began working in mainland China, the HSW was refused her monthly salary and had her passport and cellphone confiscated.

Ciabacal and other Filipinos allegedly work for a certain Chinese recruiter known only as “Fancy," who allegedly owns an establishment called MMC Enterprises located at Beleno Shop, Red Market in Macau.

MMC Enterprises acts as a front for agents, who often have Filpino partners, to operate as a clandestine recruitment agency targeting nationals from labor-sending countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) also received reports of this scheme leading Filipinos in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Cyprus to transfer to Dubai, Mongolia, Turkey, and Russia

Similar rackets where Filipinos pay exorbitant fees to travel to other countries on a tourist visa, often without assurance of employers, have also surfaced.

Without proper work documents, these Filipinos reportedly either suffered abuse from the hands of their employers or were arrested and deported by immigration authorities.

The OCWs were reminded that recruitment through third-party means is illegal and only POEA-licensed recruitment agencies may issue job orders for overseas jobs.

Work permits and/or employment contracts approved and processed by the POEA are also required. — Rie Takumi/RSJ, GMA News