By The SUN
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| Migrante chair Joanna Concepcion calls for govt action outside the DMW office |
About a dozen
people claiming to be victims of large-scale illegal recruitment by PinoyCare
Visa Centre and its chief executive officer Prisca Nina Mabatid trooped to the
Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the National Bureau of Investigation
(NBI) on Wednesday to file complaints.
The group, accompanied by Migrante International representatives, said they paid
at least Php104,000 each as processing fee for the Canadian student visa that
Mabatid, through PCVC and another company she controls called Opportunities
Abroad, had promised to secure for them within three months.
They claimed the
recruiters have been luring and deceiving Filipinos throughout the Philippines,
as well as overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Japan,
Singapore and other countries, into paying the processing fee before disclosing
conditions that are difficult, even impossible, to meet.
This was contrary to the group’s initial promise to provide them help
throughout the recruitment process, and their repeated assurances that they
need not worry about having the right qualifications or financial capability to
secure the visa.
When they asked
for a refund, Mabatid and her staff reportedly turned hostile, and even
threatened to sue them in court, using as an excuse the no-refund, no-lawsuit
“memorandum of agreement” that they were forced to sign after they had paid for
the processing fee in full.
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| One of the 'victims' shares his bad experience with Mabatid's PCVC company |
“Nina Mabatid and her company have stolen
millions of pesos from hard-working Filipinos and OFWS who dream of a better
life and economic security. These amounts should be returned immediately to her
victims. What she and her associates did is blatant illegal recruitment, if not
human trafficking.” said Migrante International chairperson Joanna Concepcion.
“Mabatid peddled false and unrealistic
promises. Despite the huge fees paid by the victims, their applications to
Canada were never fully processed. The government should do something to
protect our kababayans from such frauds,” Concepcion added.
Staff at DMW’s
legal division said they would go over the complainants’ statements and arrange
a full hearing later, while NBI promised quick action, said Concepcion.
The Migrante
chair said it was surprising that despite countless complaints against Mabatid
and her companies, they continue to openly organize and hold seminars throughout
the country, often with help from local government officials and local PESO
offices.
OFWs who mostly
had to borrow the money they used to pay the processing fee said they were
enticed by the promise personally made by Mabatid of an interest-free “loan” of P1 million
which they were meant to present as proof to Canadian authorities of their
financial capability.
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| Mabatid (3rd from left) faces police questioning in HK |
All the
disgruntled applicants said the open endorsements of Mabatid and PCVC-Opportunities
Abroad by well-known personalities like Senator Raffy Tulfo, Atty. Gareth
Tungol, and celebrity host Boy Abunda, also helped convince them that they were
dealing with a legitimate group.
In Hong Kong, 11
applicants who had earlier filed complaints with the HK Police and the
Philippine Consulate General said the aggressive promotion of OFW blogger Bryan
Calagui encouraged them to pay Php131,000 each to PCVC-OA in just three days in
February this year.
The complainants
called the police after hearing that the group was holding another recruitment
activity at Sunbeam Theater in North Point last June 18, but Mabatid was let
off after she promised to return their money a week later at the Philippine
Consulate.
When Mabatid
failed to show up as promised, the complainants went back to the police, who
said they would elevate the case to criminal investigators, and possibly the
Immigration Department.
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| Mabatid claims to have the support of Sen Raffy Tulfo in her operation |
Meanwhile, the
Consulate has begun its own inquiry after DMW Secretary Susan Ople asked for a thorough
investigation of the complaint. She also named DMW Undersecretary Hans Cacdac as
the officer in charge of the case.
Separately,
Consul General Raly Tejada has denied meeting with Mabatid at the Consulate in
April, saying she just happened to be in the company of former Presidential
Spokesperson Harry Roque who asked to drop by for a courtesy call.
Congen Tejada
was responding to queries about pictures shared by Mabatid on her Facebook
account, which seemed to imply that her operations had the Consulate’s
blessing.
