Victims urged to file complaints against illegal recruiters

Illegal recruitment victims must try to get a conviction against those who took advantage of them, said the head of the anti-illegal recruitment task force, which pursues those who promise non-existent jobs to victims.

"We cannot prosecute unless a complainant steps forward and files a case," Reynaldo Jaylo, chief of Manila's Presidential Anti-Illegal Recruitment Task Force (PAIRTF).

With victims in the UAE, Jaylo said it is possible to file a deposition while the victims are still out of the Philippines.

A case will only be successful, however, if the victim appears in court, he said.

"This (deposition) can be done, but the case will not prosper until the victim confronts the suspect face-to-face to affirm the crime committed (before the judge). The bottom line is due process."

Libran Cabactulan, Philippine Ambassador to the UAE, said: "I would like to encourage the victims to come forward, even in confidence, to bring their cases to our knowledge so that proper action can be taken."

He said there have been a number of cases in which documentary evidence was enough for the authorities in Manila to conduct further verification of allegations against certain recruiters.

"In most cases, no presence (of the victim) is needed, unless the victims want to file a criminal case against the illegal recruiters. If the allegations have a concrete basis, an illegal recruiter can be banned or placed on the negative list of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

"Victims have nothing to fear. They must come forward because they are the aggrieved party," he said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently formed PAIRTF to pursue cases against the growing number of victims of illegal recruiters.

Support groups in Manila said they will also ask the Philippine Congress to conduct an enquiry into the rising cases of illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

Illegal recruiters in Manila work with visa racketeers and continue to exploit the ease of travel to the UAE, recruiting people for non-existent jobs, charging exorbitant fees and disappearing.

They usually use legal job placement agents as fronts.

Jaylo's task force is also authorised to nab errant immigration officials engaged in escorting victims to their flights. The Philippine Department of Justice said it would also speed up cases of human trafficking.

Vic Cabe, Philippine Labour Attache in Dubai, said illegal recruitment victims can file both criminal and administrative charges against illegal recruiters.

Cabe, former chief of the operations and surveillance division, one of three divisions in the Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch under the POEA, said promising non-existent jobs is considered a criminal offence under the Migrant Workers Act of 1995.

Administrative cases filed against recruitment agencies are decided by the Adjudication Office at POEA. This could result in a suspension or a revoking of the licence of a recruitment agency.

The complaint is usually filed before the prosecutor's office where the crime is committed – that is, where recruitment is conducted or where the placement fee is paid, which is not necessarily the place or city where the agency office is located.