POEA Padlocks Recruitment Agency Found Still Recruiting after License was Cancelled
POEA chief Hans Cacdac. PHOTO FROM HIS FACEBOOK PAGE
MANILA – The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has padlocked the offices of a recruitment agency found still operating two weeks ago even after its license had been cancelled October last year.
POEA Administrator Hans Cacdac said that while a notice saying “We are not accepting new applicants” was posted outside its offices at Rooms 209 and 210 of the “infamous” Gedisco Centre, Mind Resources Corporation in fact continued its operation.
During a surprise inspection on June 9, government operatives found an Arab-looking man who retreated to one of the rooms and locked it when the operatives tried to approach to interview him. A check revealed the rooms belong to Mind Resources Corporation.
Cacdac said he thus ordered a surveillance on the office to determine whether or not it is still operating despite its license was already been cancelled.
The modus revealed
The surveillance team, according to the report, used a poseur-applicant who applied for work as a household service worker in Saudi Arabia. She was accompanied by another poseur, her “boyfriend,” who could witness the whole transaction.
At the office, the poseur-applicant inquired whether the agency is offering job opportunities in Saudi Arabia. An Arab-looking man (later on identified as Zein Hussein, a Lebanese, said yes and asked her what position she was applying for. The poseur saud she was applying for “DH” and that she was “ex-abroad DH in Singapore.”
Hussein offered the poseur to process her application as direct hire, but the poseur refused. The Lebanese then offered her the position through an agency and instructed her to go down to Sulyap Inc., an office located in front of the Gedisco Centre, to fill up an application. He also informed the poseur to be ready for an interview to be conducted by Hussein in Sulyap Inc.
When the poseur inquired why she had to go to Sulyap Inc., Hussein told that he also owns that agency and again, instructed her to wait for him in the agency for the interview.
During the conversation between the poseur and Hussein, the latter even offered her “boyfriend” “skilled work,” also in Saudi Arabia.
Thereafter, the poseurs went down to Sulyap, Inc. to comply with Hussein’s instruction. There, she was immediately entertained by a female employee and was quickly given an application form.
Cacdac said the surveillance operatives observed that Hussein has an arrangement between mind Resources Corporation and Sulyap Inc., which was informed of the arrival of the applicant and of the interview to be conducted.
In this case, the interview did not materialize because the poseur requested the agency for a resetting of the interview as she said she had an errand requiring her immediate attendance. Thus, the poseurs (and the operatives) left the premises and terminated the operation.
Cacdac said the surveillance proved that Mind Resources Corporation was engaged in illegal recruitment and the operatives recommended that a closure order be issued against it. “I have approved the recommendation,” he said.
He also said he had approved the recommendation to put Zein Hussein and the employees and other responsible officers of Mind Resources Corporation in the POEA’s List of Persons with Derogatory Record.
For her part, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz directed Cacdac and other POEA officials led by Atty. Jesus Gabriel C. Domingo, Deputy Administrator for Licensing and Adjudication, to bring the full force of the law against the officials of Mind Resources Corporation found to have been operating long after its license has been cancelled.
“Let us show the people that we do not tolerate the crime of illegal recruitment,” Baldoz said after Cacdac reported about the closure.