Victims of illegal recruiters urged to seek Tfair's help

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Noli De Castro on Wednesday urged victims of illegal recruitment to seek help from his task force so that the culprits would be thrown to where they belong — in jail. De Castro said the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (Tfair) had been able to arrest several illegal job recruiters and swindlers over the past months as a result of the cooperation of victims. “The cooperation of the victims has played an important role in the capture and prosecution of the suspects. So I'm encouraging others to come out and help the government win the fight against this crime," said the vice president, who is also presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers. Citing progress from the previously reported of arrest for large-scale illegal recruitment, De Castro said they apprehended three more suspected illegal recruiters just in the past month. On June 24, the task force arrested an Arnel Estojero for trying to send Filipino workers to Singapore on tourist visas. Estojero was held by airport police at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after five of the workers he was escorting could not present overseas employment certificates (OEC). The next day, the task force apprehended a Romulo Ilano Rempillo after complainants filed cases of illegal recruitment against him before the Tfair office in Camp Crame, Quezon City. Victim Salvador Sales, along with six others, said Rempillo promised them jobs in Qatar and Saudi Arabia as housekeeper, driver, laborer, painter, and car washer in exchange for sums ranging from P1,000 to P18,000 as processing fee. Sales said the promised jobs did not materialize but the recruiter continued to extract money from them. Authorities later found out that Rempillo was actually not authorized by the Philippine Overseas Employment Authority (POEA) to recruit Filipino workers for jobs abroad. Another suspected illegal recruiter was arrested in Pasig City also after her victim complained to the Tfair. Patricia Anne King Panlaqui allegedly recruited complainant Angelica Bravo to work as a nurse in the Republic of Maldives in exchange for P25,000 as processing fee. The suspect reportedly continued to collect more money from Bravo until the victim found out that the she was actually not authorized by the POEA to do so. De Castro warned, however, that these arrests would not be the last just yet. “We have already arrested a lot of suspected illegal recruiters since the task force started operating [but] Tfair will continue to go after these culprits who victimized our poor and unwary job seekers," he said. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV