POEA warns vs third-country recruitment

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) yesterday warned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) against “third-country” recruitment schemes.

POEA administrator Hans Cacdac issued the warning after a domestic helper in Hong Kong ended up jobless.

Cacdac said he received a report from the Philippine embassy in Turkey about the case of a household service worker who left her job in Hong Kong and accepted an offer of employment in another country.

“The household worker said she was recruited by a recruitment agency in Hong Kong, whose owner promised her a better job in Turkey. She was charged HK$19,000 for the supposed new job,” Cacdac disclosed.

She was employed for over a month in Turkey, but was terminated by her employer. The worker is now looking for a new employer who could give her a work permit.

Cacdac said OFWs should be careful in accepting offers of employment in another country.

Third-country recruitment, Cacdac said, is illegal because the recruiter and the employer have no license or authority from the POEA.

He said most of the time the conditions of employment in third-country recruitment are not what the OFWs had in mind or the offered job is non-existent.