Go after erring recruiters, POEA told
Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has directed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to go after private recruitment agencies or individuals who may have violated the rules and regulations on overseas employment, particularly those who have deployed workers without confirmed bookings for their connecting flights.
Baldoz issued the directive after 16 overseas Filipino workers bound for the Middle East got stranded in Singapore when the Singapore police prevented them from boarding their connecting flights to their final destinations.
Citing a report from Singapore-based Labor Attaché Rodolfo Sabulao, Baldoz said eight OFWs on board the budget airline JetStar arrived in Singapore on August 12 bound for Abu Dhabi but were prevented from boarding their connecting flight by Singapore authorities, who turned over the OFWs to Philippine Embassy officials for care and disposition. The Philippine Overseas Labor Office’s Filipino Workers Resource Center in Singapore has sheltered the OFWs.
Sabulao reported that based on the affidavits of the workers, they were prevented by the police from boarding their connecting flight because their plane tickets were allegedly purchased by their agents in Manila using a stolen credit card.
Another batch of eight workers were again stranded in Singapore the next day, August 13, when they were also prevented by authorities from boarding their connecting flights to their overseas destinations due to unconfirmed bookings.
“Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways, the airline companies that flew them to Singapore, wanted them to present the credit card holder who booked them in Manila and purchased their tickets,” Sabulao reported. The eight were bound for Kuwait, Qatar, and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Sabulao identified the agencies that deployed the eight workers as Medrip International Philippines Inc.; Agency Futuristic International (Artist) Promotion; Acclaimed One Manpower and Recruitment Service; and PVE Placement Agency; and World Production International Manpower, all licensed by the POEA.
Sabulao said this is not the first time that documented Filipino workers were stranded in Singapore. “In the past, there have been workers bound for overseas destinations who were stranded at the airport due to booking problems,” he said.
Baldoz said the DOLE is working very hard to prevent the occurrences such as what happened to the 16 workers by coordinating its efforts with all agencies with OFW protection-related work.
”The POEA had already assessed the incident and had issued summonses to the five recruitment agencies. We will require them to thoroughly explain why the bookings of the 16 workers need to have connecting flights. They need to satisfy us with a clear explanation and why they should not be penalized for infractions of the rules and regulations on overseas employment under the recently enacted R.A 10022,” the labor chief said.*
