QCPD bares new illegal recruitment scheme

MANILA, Philippines - While other illegal recruiters use bogus agencies to dupe jobseekers, three persons arrested Thursday came up with a new scheme: use the name of a legitimate firm, and gather victims at a park instead of using an office, a Quezon City Police District (QCPD) official said yesterday.

Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo, QCPD District Police Intelligence Operation Unit chief, said suspects Jemer Almoneda, 47; Rosita Tesado, 39; and Reynaldo Arcaga were caught offering jobs as “farm workers” in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada to jobseekers they gathered at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center.

They were arrested after one of Pedrozo’s men posed as a jobseeker to confirm reports that recruiters were offering overseas jobs at the park.

The three suspects are facing charges of illegal recruitment based on complaints filed by 13 of their victims.

In an interview with The STAR, Pedrozo said the three suspects pointed to a certain “Boy Bongco,” reportedly a former policeman, as the one behind the operation. Pedrozo said the suspects used the name of Prime World Manpower Agency, a government-accredited recruitment firm. Prime World said the three suspects and Bongco are not its agents.

The three arrested suspects told The STAR that all the money and some of the documents they received from applicants have been turned over to Bongco, who has yet to be arrested.

Unlike most recruitment agencies, the three suspects demanded no placement fee and charged only P5,000 as their “processing fee,” said Police Officer 3 Placido Cruz III.

Pedrozo said since the “recruiters” had been luring would-be overseas workers since February 2009, they had collected around P200,000 from a number of jobseekers.

According to the three arrested suspects, they held these meetings at the park for the jobseekers to submit their fees and documents. They would issue receipts and give the jobseekers updates on the status of their application, the suspects said.