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| File photo of illegal recruitment victims seeking help from DMW |
The Department of Migrant Workers has warned that “referral” by an unlicensed broker for someone to work abroad amounts to illegal recruitment.
“Ang pag-aalok, pagpo-post, o pag refer ng trabaho sa ibang bansa ay hindi simpleng pagtulong o personal na pabor lang. Sa ilalim ng batas, ito ay itinuturing na recruitment activity at kung ginagawa nang walang lisensya, ito ay maituturing na illegal recruitment,” said the DMW Anti-Illegal Recruitment and Trafficking in Persons Program.
(The offer, posting or referral for work abroad is not a simple act of helping or giving favor to another. Under Philippine law, this is considered a recruitment activity and if it is done without a license, it is considered illegal recruitment).
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The post said only licensed agents and recruiters are given the authority to recruit, advertise o process work permit for overseas work. This applies even if the one offering the job is a friend, relative or an acquaintance.
Simply put, if the offeror is unlicensed, the act is illegal recruitment.
This prohibition applies to language centers and visa consultancy firms, said the DMW in a separate post. These entities are not licensed recruitment agencies so they cannot offer jobs abroad.
The warning follows two separate raids by top DMW officials in Cebu recently, on a language training center in Mandaue City, and a US visa consultancy office in Cebu City.
Both businesses were ordered closed following complaints by job applicants who told the DMW that they were not given the jobs promised them in Japan and the United States, after being asked to pay hefty processing fees.
