DOLE taps NBI to probe corruption at POEA

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has tapped the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the anomalous activities at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

“A thorough investigation is now being conducted with the help of the NBI,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Monday.

Bello said that NBI operatives were now helping them identify POEA personnel who might have links to unscrupulous recruiters. “We need their investigating capability,” he added.

Bello said he already had the names of POEA personnel suspected of conniving with illegal recruiters. He, however, refused to identify them.

The labor department earlier ordered a 15-day suspension of the processing of overseas employment certificates (OECs) to make way for an in-depth probe of the supposed illegal recruitment activities at the POEA.

An OEC is a requirement for overseas Filipino workers so they could work abroad.

Bello said those who would be proven to be involved in illegal recruitment would be suspended, reshuffled, or removed.