Recruitment agencies out to get POEA chief’s head

PHILIPPINE Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Hans Leo Cacdac dismissed calls for his resignation from recruiters who alleged that he ignored due process in suspending recruitment agencies.

In a post on his Facebook page, Cacdac belied the claims of recruitment agencies, adding that the he revoked the licenses of  many agencies because of their offenses and violations.

He said these offenses include human trafficking, charging of placement fees, reprocessing, deployment of underage workers, and deployment of workers in countries (Syria and Lebanon) where the Philippines has imposed an employment ban.

Recruitment agencies plan to hold protest actions on July 20 to demand Cacdac’s resignation.

“Habang may imbestigasyon, ang POEA ay maaaring magpataw ng ‘preventive suspension’ sa malubhang kaso ng katiwalian,” Cacdac said. “Ang layunin ng ‘preventive suspension’ ay para mahinto ang patuloy na pag-deploy ng OFW na magiging biktima lamang ng recruiter kung pinayagan pa itong mag-recruit habang nasa ilalim ng imbestigasyon.”

He said the POEA had been transparent and even posted on its website and Facebook pages the cases of cancellation or suspension of recruiters.

“Wala po tayong tinatago, dahil transparent po ang ating pagbibigay ng hatol sa mga tiwaling recruiter,” Cacdac said.

He said the POEA receives every year between 5,000 and 7,000 complaints against illegal recruiters, or at least four times of the number of recruitment agencies, which is at 1,200.

In the last four years, the agency revoked the licenses of 233 recruiters, which is 35 percent higher than the number of cancelled licenses during the last four years of the Arroyo administration.

Cacdac also said that owing to the POEA’s efforts, 7,349 OFWs were able to get a refund from the recruitment agencies that charged them illegal placement fees.

He said these OFWs were awarded a total of P77.646 million. These cases, he said, showed the need to reform the recruitment industry.

“In general, utmost professionalism, very high standards of protection, and malasakit are needed to address issues surrounding domestic worker recruitment in our country,” Cacdac said.

He said recruitment agencies should also implement a strict and proper selection of foreign recruitment partners and employers.

“All ethical systems and processes of each recruitment agency should be outlined and documented…Wala na ho tayo sa panahon ng ‘bahala na’ o kahit anong diskarte na lang sa recruitment and deployment ng overseas workers,” Cacdac said.

Recruitment agencies should also comply with Philippine labor laws on working conditions and occupational health and safety with respect to their own personnel, he said.

Cacdac also said that those seeking work as domestic helpers overseas must be properly informed about workers’ rights and responsibilities.