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| A passport may only be kept by the person to whom it was issued |
The advisory was straightforward. Recruiters, licensed or not, should not confiscate or keep passports of job applicants.
This was according to a post on the Facebook page of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW Anti-Illegal Recruitment and Trafficking in Persons Report).
A recruiter who keeps the job applicant’s passport may be considered as having violated the law against illegal recruitment under RA 8042, as amended by RA 10022.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Section 6 (k) of the said law includes in the list of acts that may constitute as illegal recruitment the following: To withhold or deny travel documents from applicant workers before departure for monetary or financial considerations, or for any other reasons, other than those authorized under the Labor Code and its implementing rules and regulations.
The prescribed penalty for illegal recruitment is imprisonment for not less than 12 years but not more than 20 years, and a fine of not less than Php1million but not more than Php2 million.
The penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of not less than Php2 million and not more than Php5 million shall be imposed if the illegal recruitment is large-scale, or where there are at least three victims.
Keeping somebody else's passport is also prohibited under the Philippines' Passsport Law, which says all passports are properties of the national government, and may be kept only by person under whose name it was issued.
The advisory further stated that if the recruiter confiscates the passport, the job applicant must insist on taking it back, or report the case immediately to the Department of Migrant Workers.
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| DMW's passport advisory carries an image of ''Sol'' the cat |
The reactions to the advisory, however, showed that agents routinely withholds passports before deployment, or in the Middle East especially, they take it back again upon arrival at the country of destination, and turned over to the employer.
One said: “Andami pong mga agency na kumukuha ng passport, can I mention
them here base sa naranasan ko? Grabe may mga agency pa na kapag mag withdraw
ka ng docs may bayad na 1000.” (There are so many agencies that keep
passports, can I mention them here based on my experience? It’s terrible, some
agencies even charge you 1,000 if you withdraw your documents).
Another said: “Local or international, sa oras ng pag aapply,
hawak na nila ang passport. Mahahawakan lang (ng worker) pag nag flight na. At
pagdating sa employer kukunin din. Kasi isip nila kailangan nila kunin ang
passport para di tumakas si kadama. LNG pag nagfligth na. At pag dating sa
employer kukunin din. Kasi isip nila kailangan nila kunin ang passport para di tumakas
si kadama. At pag ibinalik ng amo si kadama sa agency, kukunin din ng agency
ang passport.”
(Whether for local or international deployment once a job seeker applies
with an agency they will take the passport away. The worker can only get it
back upon boarding their flight to the job site. And once they get to the
employer’s house the passport is again taken away. That’s because they do not
want the kadama or worker to escape. But once the employer brings the worker
back to the agency, it is the agency that takes it for safekeeping).
Still another worker asked, “Paano po kung kinukuha ng employer ng mga OFW, ano po ang dapat gawin ng OFW? Kung magsasabi po ba sa agency ay magkaka aksyon at babawiin ito sa amo? Kung hindi pinansin ng agency ano po gagawin ng DMW/OWWA/Embassy? Magbibigay po ba sila ng advice sa mga agency at amo?
(What if the OFW’s employer takes it, what should the OFW do? If the worker informs the agency, will action be taken, or will the agency get it back from the employer? If the agency does not do anything, what will the DMW/OWWA/Embassy do? Will they advise the agency and employer not to withhold the passport?)
To report on the illegal
confiscation of passports, email info@dmw.gov.ph
or call the emergency hotline 1348. You may also scan the QR code in the
attached poster.
