Pinays warned of 'marriage-for-job' scam in China

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has cautioned  the public from unscrupulous individuals who entice Filipino women into marrying Chinese nationals in exchange for employment in China and other financial benefits.

Citing information from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the POEA said five Filipino women were stranded in Tongxu, Henan province and have requested repatriation assistance from the government.

They were allegedly recruited by two Chinese nationals with a promise of employment in China.

The Chinese nationals were identified as Song Gang and Li Chunrong, also known as Steven Lee, who is reportedly married to one Violeta Aquino, a Filipino national from Urbiztondo, Pangasinan.

One of the victims said that Lee and his wife arranged her marriage to a Chinese national named Wei Qi Lai, who was then staying in Pangasinan as a tourist.

She claimed that they promised to give her family a dowry of P140,000 after their marriage and when she gets her Chinese visa, but her family only received P100,000 after deducting expenses for the wedding reception and processing of her travel documents.

They were married in Pangasinan on September 11, 2017 and she left for China on a tourist visa with her husband on November 13, 2017.

The couple then stayed with Lai’s family in Zhangzhou.

The DFA’s Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs said that although the five women are legally married to their Chinese spouses and are in possession of valid residence permits, the spouses did not allow them to find work in China.

Additionally, the victims found out that their spouses do not have the financial capability to support their respective family in the Philippines, contrary to what was promised by their recruiters.

One victim complained that her husband confiscated her passport and physically and sexually abused her. She escaped from her husband’s home on April 23, 2018.

The DFA has recorded 23 Filipino women who married Chinese nationals for job opportunities in China. —Maia Tria/KBK, GMA News