MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Tuesday cautioned prospective migrant workers against Facebook pages passing themselves off as the official page of the agency and luring applicants for jobs abroad.
According to POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia, the agency has monitored at least a dozen pages on the social networking site that illegally use its logo to advertise supposed vacancies in such countries as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and the United States.
These pages are: POEA Job Hirings in New Zealand; POEA Jobs Online; OFW POEA Jobs Abroad; POEA Jobs Abroad; POEA Job Hiring USA; POEA Job Hiring Australia; POEA Job Hiring UK; POEA Job Agency Hiring; POEA Trabaho Abroad Hiring; POEA Jobs in Dubai; Work Abroad-POEA Licensed Company; and POEA Accredited Licensed Agency.
Olalia said that in its Facebook page, POEA Job Hirings in New Zealand claimed to have several job openings for Filipinos who intend to work for Honda New Zealand. Upon verification, the company “denied any active recruitment activity in the Philippines or any country outside New Zealand.”
In a statement, Olalia advised applicants to use the online verification system at the website poea.gov.ph or call telephone hotlines 87221144 and 87221155.
The POEA, he said, has only one official Facebook account (facebook.com/poea.gov.ph) on which it posts updates for migrant workers and prospective applicants.