Binay seeks LGU, media help in battling illegal recruitment

MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Jejomar Binay has renewed appeals to the media and local government units for their help in battling illegal recruitment.

Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Binay also asked the help of local officials in tracking illegal recruiters in their areas. He also called for their aid in convincing returned victims to pursue cases against their recruiters.

“I appeal to you to help me in our campaign against illegal recruitment. It’s still a big problem [for the government],” Binay told reporters and local government leaders during a visit in Pangasinan last Friday.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Binay, the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers concerns and head of the Presidential Task Force against Illegal Recruitment, said that the national government has not found solutions to the problem of Filipinos leaving the country without visa requirements.

“They (illegally recruited OFWs) will go to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur (where visit visas are not required), where they will be received by trafficking syndicates, and then sent to [destinations in] the Middle East, such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Until now, there are some who still go to Syria even if there’s a conflict there,” he recounted.

“That’s our problem. We have hundreds of thousands of undocumented OFWs so we should aid [the government in the drive] against illegal recruiters,” Binay added.

Those who have been planning to leave for work abroad should ensure that the agencies they talk with were accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Vice President reminded.

According to him, the issue of illegal recruitment especially in the Middle East mostly lies with unskilled and undocumented workers.

“Do you know that our problems coming from the Middle East, 12 to 15 percent come from a certain sector, and do you know who they are? It’s the domestic helpers and the unskilled [workers],” he said.

Binay pointed out that the situation with the undocumented was more difficult because they get only identified once problems occurred.

“And what usually happens to them is they get deceived by [recruitment and placement] agencies who promise them US$400 in wages and they end up getting $100 or $150. Of course they will really complain about it,” he said.

He added that there are also many debt-ridden OFWs.

“When you borrow there, it’s like you killed someone because of the penalty to be meted on you if you don’t pay up. Those who were charged with violation of contracts, those who just ran away from their employers–they are the ones who have debts,” he said.

The Vice President said that the problem with skilled workers, on the other hand, has been their hesitation to leave even when the situation in the countries they have been working in has become unstable.

“In Libya, you have to understand, many work in the desert. The strife is only in the capital. In Syria, there are many battles but many still refuse to leave [the peaceful areas],” he said.