Alleged illegal recruiter caught in Bulacan church

One of the most wanted females in Bulacan, suspected of recruiting women as restaurant servers who were then forced to prostitution, was arrested outside a church in Balagtas during Black Saturday, April 19, 2025.

According to Balagtas Police chief Police Major Mark Vincent Centinaje, authorities arrested the outside a church in Barangay Wawa, Balagtas, Bulacan, as she has been elusive to authorities after reportedly recruiting females as servers in Malaysia without the necessary visa, and prostituting them.

“During the process, wala pong babayaran ang ating mga victim sa processing. At the same time, babanggitin po na wala po silang gagawin kundi maging server or mga waitress lamang po sa restaurant or sa mga bar po sa Malaysia,” he said in an exclusive report on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

“Bukod po sa wala silang working visa, ang mga biktima po natin ay ginagawang prostitutes,” he added.

(During the process, the victims will not have to pay anything for the processing. At the same time, it will be mentioned that they will not do anything but be servers or waitresses in restaurants or bars in Malaysia… Aside from having no working visa, the victims are also being prostituted.)

Centinaje said the suspect brought the victims from Bulacan to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to have them flown into Palawan, where they will be picked up by a van and brought to Brooke’s Point. From there, they are brought via speedboat to Balabac, Palawan, where another speedboat will pick them up and bring them to Kudat, Malaysia.

“Hinuhuli po sila ngayon sa mga pinagtratrabahuan nilang bar dahil wala pong kaukulang papeles (They are being apprehended in their workplaces because of the lack of necessary papers),” he said.

“Sana po maging masyado po tayong vigilant sa nakakausap at pinagkakatiwalaan po natin (Hopefully let us all be very vigilant on those we speak with and trust),” he added.

For her part, the suspect said she was just implicated in the matter: “Nadamay lang po talaga ako diyan.” —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/RF, GMA Integrated News