Two establishments in Ermita, Manila have been ordered closed by the Department of Migrant Workers after authorities found them charging Filipino jobseekers excessive fees for jobs in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic that never materialized.
The closures covered Creative Artist Placement Service, Inc., a licensed but suspended recruitment agency, and its affiliated visa consultancy Schengen Visa CAPS. Undersecretary Bernard P. Olalia personally led the shutdown operations, which brought the DMW’s total closed establishments to seven this year under its Migrant Workers Protection Bureau.
Investigators found that the two firms were advertising various positions in Central Europe — among them factory workers, farmers, housekeepers, cleaners, and drivers — with promised monthly salaries of around Php 80,000. Applicants were made to pay placement fees between Php 120,000 and Php 150,000, amounts that exceeded legal limits. Despite making those payments, many waited over a year without being deployed.
Verification by authorities further established that Creative Artist Placement Service held no approved job orders for factory workers or farmers bound for Poland, exposing the offers as unfounded.
Staff members of both firms face inclusion in the DMW’s List of Persons with Derogatory Record, a designation that bars individuals from participating in the government’s overseas employment program. Criminal charges of illegal recruitment are also being prepared against them.
The action was carried out in accordance with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to crack down on illegal recruiters and syndicates preying on OFW applicants. Creative Artist Placement Service additionally faces cancellation of its recruitment license as a consequence of the violations.
