Administrator Carlos S. Cao Jr. yesterday clarified that
the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration has no lending facility for
overseas Filipino workers after a suspect was nabbed allegedly for collecting
fees from applicants for a cash loan from the
POEA.
Administrator Cao said a couple from Zamboanga City sought
help from members of the POEA security officers when the alleged fixer failed
to give them the amount they were borrowing.
The couple named the suspect as Ronnie F. Soner a.k.a.
Ronnie Montillano and identified him from a surveillance video recorded at the
second floor of the POEA building.
Soner allegedly collected from the couple the amount of
Php 8,750 as processing fee for a Php 30,000 loan to be released on July 20,
2011.
The victims narrated to the POEA security officers that
they were actually applying for a loan at the main office of the Overseas
Workers Welfare Administration in Pasay City on July 12, 2011 when Soner
approached and befriended them. They alleged that Soner convinced them they can
get a loan faster from the POEA than from OWWA. Their conversation was also
taped by a surveillance camera.
On July 29, 2011, the joint POEA-OWWA security forces
arrested the suspect who was eyeing probable victims at the OWWA main office
and brought him to the Mandaluyong Police Office for filing of appropriate
charges.
In a related development, Administrator Cao advised job
applicants to be cautious of recruitment agencies based in some Asean countries
that offer employment at Macau’s hotels and casinos even without authorization
from the employers. There were reports that a hundred OFWs are now stranded in
China without the promised employment.
Cao advised jobseekers to apply only with licensed
recruitment agencies that have job orders approved by POEA. The agencies’
license status and the available job orders could be check at the POEA website www.poea.gov.ph or
through telephone numbers 7221144 and 7221155.
Source:
POEA
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