DMW, NBI close down Rizal church for alleged illegal recruitment

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have shut down a church in Baras, Rizal for allegedly illegally recruiting workers for Japan, Korea, and Papua New Guinea.

DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said the recruiter’s first victims were the church’s parishioners.

“Meron mga na-offload, dahil may mga nagrereklamo at kasalukuyan din sinisingil kahit walang authority, based on the confirmation from the complainants,” Olalia said.

(Some were offloaded because of complaints and were asked to pay fees.)  

The NBI said the recruiter charged its victims P50,000 for processing fees and documents under the guise of community work.  

“May mga natanggap tayong impormasyon as we speak, may mga biktima na nakapunta sa ibang bansa at sila po’y walang trabaho na nadatnan,” said Czar Eric Nuqui, National Bureau of Investigation Cavite North District Office chief.

(We received information that some victims were able to leave the country, but did not receive the work they were promised.)

The recruiter promised jobs such as factory work, tea picking, clerical work, accounting, mechanical engineering, and construction work with salaries from P36,000 to P120,000.

The victims were issued tourist visas and instructed to tell Immigration they were missionaries. Some of them were offloaded, deployed, or still awaiting deployment.

The DMW urged other victims to report to the agency through its official hotline +63 2 8721-0619, email mwpb@dmw.gov.ph, or Facebook page for assistance in filing complaints. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/LDF, GMA Integrated News