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| Tulfo tells the crowd in Tagum live about the complaints against Opportunities Abroad |
In a surprise
move, Senator Raffy Tulfo on Monday, October 9, stopped the holding of an “orientation
seminar” by PinoyCare Visa Center-Opportunities Abroad Visa Processing Services
in Tagum City, Davao del Norte amid complaints of illegal recruitment,
large-scale estafa and human trafficking against the group and its founder and chief executive officer Prisca Nina Mabatid.
The senator, who
heads the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers, also announced that there will
be a Senate inquiry into the complaints against Mabatid and her group.
The operation to
halt the seminar that was reportedly booked with help from a local city councilor
was broadcast live on Tulfo’s popular radio program “Wanted sa Radyo” and simulcast
on OneTV network, as well as the Facebook and YouTube channels of the senator.
Tulfo himself
addressed the crowd of hundreds via an online hookup with the chief
investigator of the Philippine National Police in the city, and told them about
the pending complaints against the two companies and Mabatid, who
used to be a Cebu City councillor.
“Gusto ko lang ipaalam sa inyo na itong si
Nina Mabatid at ang kanyang Pinoy Care Visa Center Opportunities Abroad ay
maraming reklamo na ang nakarating sa amin, sa NBI at maging sa Hong Kong.
Nangangako sya na bibigyan kayo ng student visa sa Canada at papautangin kayo
ng one million (peso) interest free, para gamitin ninyo sa inyong tuition fee,
pero once nagbigay kayo ng pera, goodbye na yung pera ninyo at hindi na
matutuloy ang pangako,” said Tulfo.
(I just want to
inform you that a lot of complaints have been filed with us, the NBI and in Hong Kong against this Nina Mabatid and her PinoyCare Visa Center and
Opportunities Abroad. She will promise you a student visa to Canada and will
offer to lend you one million pesos, interest free, that you can use for your
tuition fee, but once you pay up, it’s goodbye to your money and her promises
will not be kept).
He said it was
up to them if they wanted to stay even after hearing about the complaints.
During the show,
Tulfo tried to speak with Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy but he was reportedly nowhere
to be found. Neither was Mabatid around although her partner, lawyer Russ Mark Gamallo, could be seen surveying the crowd.
Tulfo ended up
warning all local government officials who facilitate the holding of Mabatid’s
orientation seminars that they could be held equally liable for any adverse consequences of such activities.
“For your information magkakaroon ng Senate
inquiry (tungkol dito) pagkatapos ng recess, at kapag di kayo tumupad, nag due
diligence…isasalang ko kayo sa Senate hearing. Gisisahin kayo doon,” he
said.
(For your
information there will be a Senate inquiry after the recess and if you don’t
comply, do not exercise due diligence, you will be told to appear at the Senate
hearing where you will be roasted).
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| Gamallo (left, with phone) surveying the venue after Tulfo managed to convince participants to leave |
Tulfo also
revealed that at a budget hearing held earlier that day, he asked the National
Bureau of Investigation to pursue the cases against Mabatid and her group.
This was after
NBI director Medardo de Lemos said in reply to Tulfo’s query that they had received
complaints in Cebu against the alleged recruiters as far back as 2015. He showed
six thick folders that held the complaints and other documents.
However, he said
not one of the complainants showed up when summoned for further investigation,
so the case was closed. But he agreed to look into the case again in light of
the new complaints filed against the group.
During the radio
program, Migrante International chairperson Joanna Concepcion told Tulfo that
the complainants who sought their help had not heard back from the NBI. She surmised
that some might have gotten cold feet because they knew Mabatid used to be a city official, and was powerful.
Concepcion, along with The SUN editor Daisy CL
Mandap who was also asked to shed light on the complaints against Mabatid in
Hong Kong, both informed Tulfo that all the case files had already been forwarded
to the Department of Migrant Workers and the NBI.
On Sunday, Tulfo called a meeting with the complainants, which was also attended by DMW's two top officials, OIC Hans Cacdac and Undersecretary Bernard Olalia.
The senator urged the DMW officials to fast-track the filing of the charges against Mabatid and company by convening an immediate meeting with the NBI. Cacdac responded that the first case that should be "ripe' for filing was syndicated estafa.
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| Officials from DOJ, Immigration and NBI respond to queries from Tulfo |
On August 4, Cacdac also met with the complainants and their advocates at the DMW office, and said he saw “badges
of fraud” in the case, so he was forwarding it to the NBI for the filing of
charges.
He said the cases could be for large-scale estafa and illegal recruitment while human trafficking could be considered for the victims who are abroad.
In Hong Kong, the case arose after Mabatid, Gamallo
and two female staff came on February 19 this year, and held two half-day
seminars during which they enticed about a thousand overseas Filipino workers to
move to Canada for a “work and study program” they could join using a student visa.
The seminars which were captured on video by many of
the participants, were promoted extensively in Hong Kong by OFW blogger Bryan
Calagui, who also opened the events and introduced Mabatid as the CEO of
PCVC-Opportunities Abroad.
To entice the OFWs, Mabatid promised a three-month
processing time, and an interest-free loan of P1million to each applicant to
be used as “show money” or proof of financial capacity before Canadian
authorities.
But after they paid the full fee of $18,731 (about P132,000)
the complainant said they received little support from the company’s staff with
their application and were given the run-around even after submitting all of the
documents they were asked to supply.
When they tried to ask for a refund, all were told
the fee was non-refundable under an agreement they were made to sign after they
had paid the fee, and the contents of which were not explained to them.
After they filed complaints with the Hong Kong
Police and the DMW had taken over their case, a number of the applicants were
sent letters warning them that they could be sued and made to pay a penalty of P500,000
in line with the no-refund agreement that they signed.
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| Migrante's Concepcion tells Tulfo the complainants in Cebu did not receive the NBI summons |
But in the wake of Tulfo’s all-out campaign to stop their
operation, the Hong Kong applicants all received emails from Opportunities
Abroad encouraging them to pursue their application for student visa. However, one applicant said it was obviously a ruse as the emails could not be responded to.
In any case, they said they had lost all trust in
Mabatid and her group, especially after their appeals for a refund were brusquely
set aside earlier, and when they were threatened with a lawsuit afterwards.
Meanwhile, Opportunities Abroad responded to Tulfo’s
maneuvers by posting on their Facebook account visas supposedly granted by the
Canadian government to a number of their recent applicants and their families.
“These are just one of the many applicants (sic)
that are successful through Opportunities Abroad,” said the post. It called on its applicants to disregard “the bad
publicity” and just continue working on their applications.
The post ended with a challenge to the company’s
detractors to prove their charges in court and not on social media.
Mabatid posted nearly the same thing on her personal
Facebook page, where she also shared two photos of her and her grandson, with
the Hong Kong skyline in the backdrop.
Separately, she posted that she was at
the airport about to fly to Hong Kong, as if to show that she can move in and
out of the city freely.
This did little to impress the OFWs here who are bent
on pursuing the case against her as they all remember Mabatid making the same
claim shortly after hot-footing it back to Cebu in June, despite a promise to give back their money.
A video she posted then which was supposedly taken in Hong Kong showed her and her companions all wrapped
up for the cold – when it was sweltering throughout the city.
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