Press Release
October 2, 2008

VILLAR WARNS AGAINST ILLEGAL RECRUITMENT FOR MACAU

Senate President Manny Villar asked the public to guard against offers of non-existent jobs in Macau where an alarming rise in the number of Filipinos falling prey to large-scale illegal recruitment has been reported.

Villar urged the recently opened Philippine Consulate in Macau to extend all available assistance to illegally recruited Filipino citizens, including guiding them in filing the appropriate charges against their recruiters and enabling those who fail to find legal employment to safely return to the Philippines.

"This week, I have received reports that batches of our countrymen have arrived in Macau as tourists and hopeful of finding employment promised by their recruiters who disappeared. This must be stopped," he said.

At least 10 duped Filipinos who were able to come home recently and who filed charges before the National Bureau of Investigation submitted copies of their affidavits to the Senate President's office. The hopeful overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) paid exorbitant placement fees to their recruiters in Manila and entered Macau as tourists, only to realize that there are no job vacancies awaiting them.

Villar reminded that employment visas must be applied for by the potential OFWs' principals or future employers and issued to them prior to their intended flight to Macau. The modus operandi of illegal recruiters is to let their victims enter Macau as tourists after paying placement fees, and ask for another payment as soon as they reach Macau for non-existent jobs. The Nacionalista Party president noted that the "budget airfare" or relatively low cost of travel from the Philippines to Macau has made it easier and more lucrative for traffickers to carry on their scheme.

Villar, who has been voluntarily shouldering the costs of repatriation of severely distressed workers, called on all victims to take legal action against their recruiters who may be part of huge syndicates operating across borders and enticing Filipinos to borrow money or give their little savings in exchange for bogus employment abroad.

Aspiring OFWs are advised to check the job placement offers as well as the licenses of their recruiters with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, which has a list of all legally placed job orders from all over the world and a listing of duly accredited recruitment agencies with the legally prescribed placement fees.

Macau is implementing a localization program in which local residents are given priority in recruitment, particularly those who are qualified for basic level jobs. Non-residents who are working without valid work permits will be penalized up to 20,000 patacas and will be banned to work in Macau for two years.

Earlier, the Senate President has sponsored the repatriation of 23 distressed workers and an infant from Jordan, and a rescued Filipina from Bahrain whose pleas of help written on carton sheets reached the Senate President's hands.

Assistance to distressed OFWs and their repatriation have been Villar's advocacy which he started even before he entered public service or 30 years ago.

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