Sen. Risa Hontiveros. PRIB FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippine — Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday called for an intensified fight against illegal recruitment among aspiring Overseas Filipino Workers, saying perpetrators must be held accountable.
Hontiveros made her remark during the Senate committee on migrant workers’ hearing on massive illegal recruitment schemes victimizing Filipinos.
“While our concerned government agencies are going after these illegal recruiters, the mere filing of charges falls short. The fight against illegal recruitment should be intensified to bring these perpetrators to justice,” she emphasized in her opening statement.
According to the senator, she supports and encourages Bilateral Labor Agreements with other countries in hopes that this would improve the plight of Filipino workers.
“Though we do not encourage sending our kababayans to work abroad, we should protect their well-being and aspirations in life,” she said, adding that most Overseas Filipino workers took out loans and sold assets to be able to acquire work.
Senator Raffy Tulfo’s committee specifically laid out two illegal recruitment schemes that supposedly victimized Filipino workers. These are as follows:
- Massive recruitment scam in Italy which victimized almost 400 individuals
- Recruitment scam in Canada where aspiring Overseas Filipinos were forced to pay P100,000
In the same hearing, Tulfo noted that illegal activities surrounding Filipino workers should end.
He likewise floated the idea of amending illegal recruitment laws to better address the needs of Filipinos.
“Enough is enough, para na tayong sirang plaka sa paulit-ulit na pagdinig sa mga scams. Kung kailangan amendahan ang ating illegal recruitment laws at taasan ang penalties, then we should do that. If additional safeguards and monitoring measures be adopted then we should adopt them. All these fraudulent activities must be aborted,” he said.
(Enough is enough, it’s like we’re broken records because of the repeated hearings conducted on scams. If it is necessary to amend our illegal recruitment laws and increase the penalties, then we should do that. If additional safeguards and monitoring measures are adopted then we should adopt them. All these fraudulent activities must be aborted.)