Recruitment agency gets 5 suspension orders

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has issued five suspension orders against a recruitment agency for various offenses.

The orders are based on complaints filed by 38 jobseekers, POEA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said Saturday.

Cacdac said the complainants alleged that they applied with the firm and were promised employment as cleaners, housekeepers, waiters and waitresses in Palau.

The applicants complained that the company “failed to deploy them to Palau even after the lapse of five to nine months despite payment of placement fees and numerous assurances from the agency staff,” he said.

The applicants were charged P45,000 each as placement fee. In all, the agency collected placement fees amounting to P1.4 million without appropriate receipts.

“The POEA filed its case against the agency after verification by POEA operatives that All Overseas International was indeed recruiting workers for Palau but without approved job orders,” Cacdac said.

The orders temporarily disqualified the company from recruiting and deploying overseas Filipino workers pending the investigation and resolution of the cases filed against the agency.