“Illegal recruitment of OFWs to Europe: Philippines job agency shut, blacklisted”

Manila: Authorities here shut down a job consultancy firm for illegally sending Filipinos to work in factories in Europe.

Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Undersecretary Bernard Olalia revealed that the firm had disguised the deployment of Filipino workers abroad as part of its “global migration training” service...

The Migrant Workers Protection Bureau (MWPB), an arm of DWM, worked with the Makati police to take action to padlock the office of BELMÜN Philippines Inc., located in Salcedo Village, Makati City, a suburb of the Philippine capital.

Authorities uncovered that the job consultancy firm had partnered with undisclosed agencies registered with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to facilitate the deployment of applicants to Poland.

An investigation was conducted by the Migrant Workers Office in Prague (MWO-Prague) alongside the MWPB…

DMW stated that applicants were required to pay a total fee of at least Php165,000 ($2,939) to process employment documents, visas, and referral to foreign partner agencies – but not including airfare…