The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) took swift action on Tuesday, ordering the closure of a Quezon City travel agency accused of engaging in illegal recruitment practices. The shutdown operation was led by DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac, in collaboration with local police and barangay officials, as reported by JP Soriano on 24 Oras.
The travel agency in question, Legal Connect Travel Consultancy, has faced allegations from multiple applicants who claimed that the agency charged exorbitant fees ranging from P200,000 to P380,000 for job placements in Italy and Malta.
One of the complainants, identified as “Axel,” a former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), shared his experience with the agency. Axel stated that he applied for a hotel worker position in Malta after seeing a social media post from the agency. However, after waiting for four months, he was informed by a Dubai-based consultant from the agency that all positions in Malta had been filled. Instead of receiving a refund, Axel was told he would be deployed to Poland using a student visa, which prompted him to report the agency’s activities to the DMW.
The DMW is currently investigating whether the agency managed to deploy Filipino workers without the required license.
DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac emphasized, “We regularly tell people that whether they end up working abroad or not, the law clearly states that recruiters without licenses are engaged in illegal recruitment.”
In response to the allegations, the travel agency denied any wrongdoing and argued that their operations were not under the jurisdiction of the DMW. Joe Vincent Aguilar, the lawyer representing Legal Connect, stated, “These are groups of people who applied not in the Philippines. So, it’s not covered under Legal Connect, but under [a] different country in [the] Middle East. They applied there. Those are Filipinos, but the contract is there.”
However, DMW Migrant Workers Protection Bureau Director III Eric Dollete countered this claim, saying, “We have conducted a series of surveillance, both online and physical, where our operatives have confirmed that these people are recruiting… aside from the fact that we have actual complainants who reported their complaints to our office.”