Binay urges prospective OFWs to be careful with trusting recruiters
When looking for a job overseas, do not trust anyone – not even your relatives.
This was what Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, who is also the Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers’ (OFWs) Concerns, advised Filipinos who are planning to work overseas.
“Huwag ho kayong magtitiwala sa inyong mga kamag-anak, o sa inyong kapitbahay (Do not just rely on your relatives and neighbors’ word),” Binay said in a recent television interview when asked what precautions Filipinos must observe to be able to avoid being duped by illegal recruiters.
He advised the public not to rely on referrals of relatives and peers when it comes to choosing recruitment agencies.
Binay cited the case of Mary Jane Veloso, who is facing execution by firing squad in Indonesia for drug trafficking charges.
Veloso, a 30-year- old mother- of-two, reportedly went to Malaysia to work upon the invitation of a relative.
She was sentenced to death by the Indonesian Supreme Court after she was arrested at the Yogyakarta airport in April 2010 for carrying 2.6 kilograms (5.73 pounds) of heroin on a flight from Malaysia.
Veloso’s mother Celia said her daughter was innocent of the drug trafficking charges and was only deceived by a certain Christine into working in Malaysia.
Celia said it was Christine, wife of her daughter’s godbrother, who sent her to Indonesia where she got arrested with the drugs.
Binay said prospective OFWs should only deal with agencies that are accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
“Ang pinakamaganda po n’yan, kung gusto n’yo pong mag-abroad, paki-check n’yo lang po ang inyong kausap. Pumunta po kayo kay Mayor kasi ‘yong mga mayor po ay kinakausap na natin na pakibantayan ‘yong mga nagre-recruit (The best that you can do if you’re planning to work abroad is to check if the agency you are dealing with is a [licensed recruiter]. Ask your mayors because we have been alerting them to guard against illegal recruiters),” he said.