A man who promised a Cagayan woman nursing work in Singapore has been convicted of illegal recruitment and estafa, with a Caloocan court ordering him to compensate the victim more than P737,000.
Roderick Reyes Paculdar was found guilty by Regional Trial Court Branch 126 in Caloocan City on August 11, 2026. The ruling carries a prison term reaching 16 years, a P1-million fine, and a directive to pay the complainant P737,357 plus six percent annual interest.
The Department of Migrant Workers established that Paculdar held no license to recruit overseas workers and was not tied to any accredited agency. He offered to place the complainant as a Nursing Aide abroad, dangling a monthly salary ranging from P35,000 to P80,000.
According to the victim, the two were introduced through a mutual acquaintance before Paculdar reached out via Facebook. Between March 2024 and April 15, 2024, she handed over P728,557 covering assorted fees, with the exchanges preserved in Messenger threads and screenshots.
The complainant first approached the DMW’s Migrant Workers Protection Bureau, which guided her in filing a report with local police. Authorities apprehended Paculdar in an entrapment operation on April 18, 2024.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac noted that the conviction marked the fifth of its kind recorded since January 2026. He extended thanks to the Caloocan City Police, the Department of Justice prosecutors handling the matter, including Assistant City Prosecutor Jack Mendaros, and the department staff who worked on the case.
Cacdac called on anyone else who may have dealt with Paculdar to approach the DMW for legal and other support. “We welcome the court’s decision as an important reminder that illegal recruitment carries serious consequences. We urge our OFWs and jobseekers to work only with licensed recruitment agencies and authorized representatives, to verify overseas job offers with the DMW, and to immediately report individuals who request unauthorized fees or make questionable promises of employment abroad,” he said.
Those seeking help from the Migrant Workers Protection Bureau can reach it through the Facebook account dmwairtip or by emailing airtipinfo@dmw.gov.ph.
