THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Friday said it shuttered a recruitment agency and a visa consultancy firm in Ermita, Manila.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the DMW closed Creative Artist Placement Service Inc., along with its tie-up, Schengen Visa Caps, for allegedly recruiting Filipino workers illegally to central European countries, particularly Poland, Hungary, and Czechia.
Undersecretary Bernard Olalia, who led the operation, said the firms offered various jobs in Europe, such as factory workers, farmers, housekeepers, cleaners, and drivers, with a monthly salary of P80,000.
However, the DMW said, applicants were asked to pay an overcharged placement fee of between P120,000 and P150,000.
“Despite such payments, they were not deployed even after waiting for more than one year,” the DMW said.
As a result, the closure of the recruitment agency and its visa firm affiliate will include their staff members in the “List of Persons with Derogatory Record,” and bar them from participating in the government’s overseas recruitment program. They will also be charged with illegal recruitment.
Creative Artist Placement Service Inc.’s license will be cancelled for recruitment violations.
The firms’ closures raised the total number of establishments the DMW closed to seven, and more are being targeted this year to protect overseas Filipino workers from illegal recruiters.