The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has warned overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East against a cross-country recruitment scheme that entices them to transfer to Hungary outside legal channels, with truck drivers among those being targeted.
In a public advisory posted June 1 on the Facebook page of its Anti-Illegal Recruitment and Trafficking in Persons Program, the agency cautioned OFWs currently employed in the Gulf to be wary of recruiters offering to move them directly to Hungary. The scheme, it said, sidesteps the proper recruitment process in the Philippines, including the training and examinations required of workers who are deployed directly from the country.
The DMW stressed that cross-country recruitment carried out without the correct process violates Philippine law and may expose workers to deportation or blacklisting. Its advisory carried the slogan “Biyaheng Legal Lang, ‘wag sa Cross-Country Scam” alongside the campaign hashtag #MagingMatalinoHuwagMagpaloko.
The latest warning fits a pattern the DMW has flagged repeatedly. “Cross-country” or “third-country” schemes typically recruit a worker in one country, route them through a stopover, and place them at a final destination outside any verified job order. The agency has previously linked such arrangements to illegal recruitment, human trafficking and online scam operations, including cases in which Filipinos recruited in Dubai were allegedly sent to West Africa.
Hungary itself remains a legitimate labor destination for Filipinos through licensed agencies, and the DMW has earlier pointed to the country as an option for OFWs displaced by Middle East conflict, citing rising demand in its automotive sector. The agency’s concern is the bypassing of legal procedures, not the destination. In March, it shut down several recruitment firms over illegal schemes offering jobs in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, where applicants paid placement fees of P120,000 to P150,000 but were never deployed.
The DMW urged the public to deal only with licensed agencies and to verify job orders through official government channels. Suspicious recruiters or offers may be reported to the Migrant Workers Protection Bureau, through the agency’s hotlines, or via email at airtipinfo@dmw.gov.ph.
