VP de Castro, POEA asked to look into visit visa scam

MANILA, Philippines — Migrante-Middle East on Wednesday urged Vice President Noli de Castro and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to investigate recruitment agencies victimizing would-be OFWs by sending them abroad using visit visas. Reports received by the Migrante-Middle East, the largest alliance of overseas Filipino workers' organizations in the Middle East, showed some unscrupulous recruitment agencies have been sending their recruits in the Philippines son a visit visa with overseas employment certificate (OEC) with approved job order. John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, said POEA's issuance of the OEC with approved job orders with a visit visa is highly irregular and anomalous. “The OEC is usually issued only to those with work visa from a prospective employer and legitimate job order," Monterona explained. "We were surprised to know that even those holding a visit visa were given an OEC with "approved" job order by the POEA, in exchange for an amount. "We smell something rotten on this, and POEA must get rid of this inside-job-illegal-activity," Monterona said. "VP De Castro and the POEA must start cleaning their own backyard first by conducting an investigation to all POEA-accredited recruitment agencies," he said. Migrante-ME, however, clarified that it is not against those OFWs who would and could work via visit visa but advised would-be OFWs to convince their prospective employer to issue work visa for them and apply on a direct-hire basis so that they could be properly documented. "Issuance of work visa from prospective employer is essential for all direct-hires and it is for our fellow OFWs safety and security," Monterona added. - D’Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV