POEA renews warning vs recruiters to China

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has renewed its warning to jobseekers against recruiters who promise jobs in China. Administrator Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said her office received a report from the Department of Foreign Affairs that many Filipinos were falling victims to Filipino and Chinese illegal recruiters. She said the DFA reported that several Filipinos under their care went to China to work as domestic helpers as promised by their recruiters. Baldoz said the Chinese government does not authorize deployment of domestic helpers through recruitment agencies. According to her, China has not relaxed its immigration policy with regards to unskilled labor, including domestic helprs, as announced by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Public Security Bureau. “Employment of domestic helpers is closed to foreigners and limited only to Chinese nationals," Baldoz explained. The illegally-recruited Filipinos were found to be carrying Chinese business “F" visas which were processed and secured through visa agents from Shandong Public Security Bureau. Holders of a “F" visa cannot work in China. Other Filipinos went to China to work as teachers but most of them were eventually deported because they were not given work visas by the Chinese government. The DFA also reported that some Filipinos who were recruited as waitress are being forced into prostitution in Dalian City. Earlier this month, the POEA reported that a Filipino mother and her daughter were stranded in Guangzhou, China after their recruiter abandoned them. The promise of having better lives teaching in China became a nightmare as they ended up broke, jobless, and abandoned. Maria Cristina Miel and her daughter Michelle said they were recruited by Ar-Zel Management Services, Inc., an agency with license from the POEA but without job orders for teachers in China. The women said they signed their “employment contracts" after being informed by Rodolfo Arceo and Joven Serdeniola, who introduced themselves as employees of Ar-Zel Management Services, that they were accepted to teach in a Chinese school for two years. They paid placement fees of P130,000 each. The victims said they were able to find temporary work as teachers but were terminated because the school failed to secure work visas for them. The DFA said China is really in need of English teachers but not all schools are authorized by the Chinese government to hire foreigners. Another victim, Lorna Coloquit, recounted that Estela Feria of Ar-Zel Manpower promised her employment as factory worker in China but was not accepted by the supposed employer. She subsequently got a job as a substitute teacher but was also dismissed because of lack of work visa. The victims said their agents in China abandoned them after collecting their passports and little money supposedly for the processing of their work visa. The DFA reported a number of Filipinos are in legal trouble in China for illegal work or overstaying. Most of the cases of contract breaches and illegal recruitment involve unauthorized schools and fly-by-night recruitment agencies. The POEA is investigating Ar-Zel Manpower Services, Inc. for possible violation of POEA rules and regulations on recruitment and deployment of overseas Filipino workers. - GMANews.TV