Cebu Daily News / News

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Another OFW to join case vs recruiter By Carine M. Asutilla Cebu Daily News Posted date: October 24, 2008 All 23 Cebuano Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who were imprisoned in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago have resolved to file a case against the recruitment agency that sent them there. However, there will be 24 OFWs pressing complaints against Be Glad Worldwide Placement Agency. Elmer Taghap, said he, too was a victim of Be Glad, and would join the 23 who recently arrived from Trinidad and Tobago in suing the agency. Taghap said Be Glad also sent him to Trinidad and Tobago in September last year, with the promise of providing him with the necessary working permits for a job in a hotel in the Caribbean nation. Taghap said he spent more than P100,000 to get to Trinidad and Tobago. But within the 20 days that Trinidad and Tobago immigration allowed him to stay in the country without a permit, Be Glad never sent him his work documents. Within the same month, Taghap returned to the country, with his family spending around P300,000 to get him home. He said he had to “escape” from his employer because Be Glad did not allow him to come home. Taghap came back to the country with nothing but the clothes on his back, said his sister, Joan Grace. He had to leave his belongings in the quarters where he was billeted. Taghap’s family visited Be Glad after he arrived, but the agency told them that it had no obligation toward him, Joan said. Taghap brought his case to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), but he was advised to seek a settlement with Be Glad. “That was the last we heard from them. We couldn’t agree on anything,” said Joan. Taghap said that when he learned of the plight of the 23 Cebuano OFWs who returned last Wednesday, he would join their fight against Be Glad. Cebu Daily News visited the Be Glad offices yesterday, but was told that nobody was available to answer queries. Be Glad’s lawyer, Antonio Cabreros, was also unreachable. Evelia Durato, acting regional director of Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in Central Visayas (POEA-7), said her office would call the attention of the agency as soon as the OFWs file a case. She said the OFWs’ lawyer, Felipe Landicho, has already picked up from her office some forms that the workers will need to file a case against Be Glad. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Central Visayas (OWWA-7) is willing to give the OFWs loans to help them start a new life, said the office’s regional director, Wilfreda Misterio. Misterio said OWWA-7 could provide loans of up to P200,000. The office is also considering reimbursing the Capitol, which spent for the plane fare of the 23 OFWs from Trinidad and Tobago back to Cebu. Emotions ran high among the returning OFWs when they met at the home of Mandaue City Mayor Carlo Fortuna, who hosted a welcome dinner. The workers recounted their ordeal in Trinidad and Tobago, where they were forced to leave their first employer for failing to give them work permits, only to end up in jail after their second employer supplied them with fake working permits. The OFWs said they wanted justice by having officials of Be Glad jailed and blacklisting the agency. The workers said they were victims of fraud, but it was they who had to spend time in a Trinidad and Tobago jail. The workers said, they also planned go after their first Trinidad and Tobago employer, who was instrumental for having the OFWs sent to prison. /with Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan