Six OFWs jailed in Marianas

Six overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) seeking employment in Saipan in the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) have landed in a Marianas jail for possession of $5,000 in counterfeit bills, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

The six, who turned out to be victims of illegal recruitment, were identified as Nelie Florendo, Rolando Lambid, Archie Macapagal, Romeo Montoya, Ronalia Navarro and Thelma Tejano.

In a report to Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Thomas, labor attaché to Saipan Araceli Maraya said the victims had been asked by their recruiter to carry the dollar bills as "show money" since they were traveling to the CNMI as tourists.

They were arrested upon their arrival at the CNMI early this month after the dollar bills were discovered to be counterfeit. The jobs promised to them by their recruiter were non-existent.

However, CNMI immigration authorities let go of another victim, Bobby Valdez, after the OFW executed an affidavit stating they were "informed the dollar bills were counterfeit during a briefing at the recruiter’s office."

Maraya said the six OFWs were arraigned last Feb. 12 and all of them pleaded "not guilty" to the charge.

She said CNMI Superior Court Judge Juan Lizama originally set a bail of $10,000 for each of the accused. But the Philippine Consulate, through the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and its court-appointed counsel, requested for bail modification from cash bail to third-party custody, or unsecured bail.

The bail was subsequently modified to $9,500 unsecured bail and $500 cash bail, thus securing the temporary release of the six OFWs.

Three of the victims are currently sheltered at the Filipino Resource Center, two at the Methodist Church and one under the custody of Lydia Matulac of the Iglesia ni Cristo church.

A status conference has been scheduled for June 19, but POLO requested counsels to move for a speedy trial or come up with a plea bargaining arrangement for deportation.

Maraya said the OFWs came from Isabela and Ilocos provinces and had been promised jobs as chambermaids and maintenance men in a hotel after paying a placement fee of P75,000.

The OFWs had identified their recruiter as Emma Cabigting, a.k.a. Emma Masangkay, who holds office at Room 605 of the Tiaque Bldg., Bustos street, Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Maraya said part of Cabigting’s recruitment scheme, aside from the exorbitant placement fee, was to provide job seekers with the required "show money."