POEA, barangays unite vs illegal recruitment

BAGUIO CITY – The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and all local government units down to the barangays are linking up to combat illegal recruitment in the country.

Baguio City was first to link up with them with the formal signing of a memorandum of understanding yesterday during the opening of the Jobs Fair at the Baguio Convention Center here.

POEA director Delfina Camarillo said, there is a need for LGUs to spearhead the campaign, while admitting that the problem on illegal recruitment is rising. The link includes even to the barangay level officials who perfectly know who their constituents are and what businesses they have, including recruitment activities, Camarillo also said.

The POEA bared that majority of the victims of illegal recruitment are not deployed as promised by their recruiters.

In 2006, the POEA-Cordillera logged 98 cases of illegal recruitment formally reaching their offices, only 84 in 2007 and 38 reported for the first six months this year.

Recently, an illegal recruiter here was arrested by NBI agents while in the act of receiving alleged payments from her client who had earlier sought authorities’ help after shelling out thousands then but had not been sent abroad for almost a year already.

POEA records also show that more Filipino women fall prey to illegal recruiters than males. For the last two years and first six months of 2008, 196 females were recorded to have been victimized by illegal recruiters, 161 were men.

DOLE-CAR director Ana Dione said that local governments helping the campaign against illegal recruitment is vital. LGUs, she said, would participate in trainings and seminars on how to detect illegal recruiters in their localities.