1 nabbed, 2 hunted in ‘Palau job racket’

A job seeker in Manila lost P150,000 to an illegal recruitment syndicate allegedly run by a company that was recommended by his own cousin, police said.

A complaint filed by Manolito Reyes led to an entrapment operation by the Manila Police District (MPD) and the arrest of an employee of All Overseas International Placement Co., which holds office at Gedisco Terraces Building on Roxas Boulevard.

Reyes said he paid the amount to the company on hopes of landing a job as a mechanical engineer in Palau.

In an operation on Friday, an MPD team arrested Novie Villaflor, one of the agency’s employees, after she asked Reyes for an additional P5,000 to “reprocess” his documents after he was barred from leaving the country for Palau on Jan. 23. Two more persons connected to the company and covered by the complaint—April Catane and Tin Dolendo—remain at large.

According to PO3 Jayjay Jacob, Reyes was referred to the agency by his cousin Alberto Roy.

On Jan. 6, Reyes went to the All Overseas office to pay the P150,000 processing fee and was told by

Villaflor’s colleagues that he would enter Palau as a tourist and be met at the airport by his employer, Shinji Chibana.

After that first meeting, Reyes had to go back to the agency thrice to ask why his earlier departure dates were rescheduled. On his third visit, Dolendo gave his supposed processed documents and a United Airlines ticket for a Jan. 23 flight.

At Ninoy Aquino International Airport, however, immigration officers barred Reyes from leaving, saying his documents were fake.

Reyes immediately phoned Catane, who said she would wait for him beside an airport counter. But he couldn’t find her there and his subsequent calls and text messages went unanswered.

Reporting his case to the MPD’s General Assignment Section, Reyes helped police entrap

Villaflor by agreeing to pay her the additional P5,000 in marked money on Friday.

Villaflor is facing charges for illegal recruitment and attempted estafa. According to Jacob, Reyes is also considering suing his cousin.