Four persons apprehended on illegal recruitment raps

About 23 persons were duped into paying P1.2-million worth of fees in exchange for jobs in London by illegal recruiters who happened to be their friends and neighbors.

Senior Insp. Bonifacio Arriesgado, Carmen municipal police chief, said the victims were offered jobs ranging from caregivers, nurses, nannies, programmers and encoders.

The suspects were 36-year-old Eve Condevillamar of Tuburan town, her 38-year-old sister Ivy Condevillamar de Dios, their 59-year-old mother Emma Condevillamar (both from Carmen town) and their friend Gemma Asada of Binabag, Compostela town.

The victims consisted of nurses from a military hospital, a school principal, the wife of a police officer and other professionals. Only 12 of the victims expressed interest to pursue the case.

Arriesgado said seven nurses were afraid to pursue the complaint because it may affect their employment.

He said five other victims asked assistance from the Mandaue City Police Office.

Among the complainants were Marcial Sanchez of Compostela town, who worked as a principal in a government school in Davao, and Sanchez’s niece Rose Ermalen Sanchez, June Branzuela, a policeman’s wife and Dan Serafin Ledesma of Carmen town.

Other complainants were Marianito Meralles of Cebu City; Letecia Bejoc of Carmen town;  Arjillee Owen, Marivic Agranio, Marie Clear Combate, Carolina Rodrigo of Tuburan; Joaness Abello, daughter of a retired policeman; and Jacqueline Coracut of Compostela.

The 52-year-old Sanchez admitted he resigned from a government school because of the job offer in London. He refused to identify the school.

He said he even invited his two nieces who worked as nurses in Panabo to join him in London.

While his nieces filed a leave of absence, they paid P99,000 in fees for all three of them.

“I sold five of my pigs. I gave the P45,000 to them. My children were all mad of me,” Sanchez told Cebu Daily News.

Sanchez said Asada offered him the job while they rode a tricycle in Danao City last Aug.  1.

On the second week of August, Sanchez said Asada brought him to the home of Ivy De Dios in Poblacion, Carmen town.

There he filled up an  application form and paid P500 after the mother of De Dios, Emma, urged him to apply for the job in London.

Sanchez said he was asked to comply with all the requirements and pay the P10,000 for the orientation scheduled on Sept. 12 in Manila including the airfare for Manila and boardinghouse.

Sanchez said the orientation was conducted in a function room in a mall in Manila from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. wherein they were told to pay more to process their documents.

Sanchez said they were told by De Dios that she asked her sister Eve to facilitate the hiring of workers in London since she worked there.

After an orientation, Sanchez said one of the two speakers who didn’t receive P10,000 informed the participants that  Eve didn’t work in London but was living in the country.

Sanchez said the speaker, whom he identified as Art, told them that their application documents were just in Eve’s condo unit, which was already abandoned because of Eve’s failure to settle her obligations.

The applicants went to the condominium allegedly owned by Terry and they found all their documents scattered in the area. They also saw fake stamps.

The group also checked the Immigration Office in Manila and found out that Eve didn’t work in London.

Sanchez said they were all shocked  and all of them returned to Cebu last Sept. 13 and 14.

They reported their plight to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), who then reported the case to the Tuburan municipal police.

The police arrested Eve and Emma, who were celebrating the birthday of Eve’s son at their home.

The suspects were turned over to the Carmen police precinct while Ivy and Asada showed up at the precinct where they were also detained.

Ivy said she was also a victim because she was recruited by her sister to work in London.

She said Eve was hired as a nanny in London through the Internet. She said she believed that Eve would return to London and help find jobs for the applicants.

“I was in Manila expecting that I can go to London. I spent all my money for nothing. So I decided that I must find a way to earn money to pay for my trip to London,” she said.

Police said the recruiters identified a company named Macdowell Direct Hiring as the firm that was looking for caregivers in London.

Elsewhere, the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) yesterday called on applicants to verify the license or job order of a recruiter and check their designated special agency license.

POEA spokesperson Fenita Berdon said a recruiter with no special authority in a certain area is also considered illegal.

She said their office had yet to receive the complaints of the victims. /Jhunnex Napallacan and Carine M. Asutilla, Correspondents with Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya