Last of 2 parts
READ: Part 1 | Foreign brokers profit from deploying Filipino farmers to Korea as LGUs let them
“This is the last time, my dears. Korea will be the last.” This is what Lisa*, a 49-year-old single mother, told her children as she fixed an application to go abroad once more.
Lisa has never had a chance to go up on stage for any of her two children’s graduation ceremonies. She would only see them finish every school milestone in pictures, as she worked as a domestic worker abroad for most of her kids’ lives.
Lisa’s youngest is now 23, and there were no more graduations left to attend. While she wanted to make up for the lost time, there was yet another opportunity that could let them live better lives.
In 2023, Lisa, together with at least six other fellow overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were friends and friends of friends, came across a Facebook post offering opportunities to work in South Korea as farmers.
The recruiter was named Nenita Yumul Sangullas. She had several agents working with her, such as a certain Carol Caballero and Juanito Lacson, according to their sworn statement they signed when they complained to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). The OFWs said Lacson had claimed to be representing a local government unit (LGU) that the group could no longer recall.
Apart from the issues in above-board agreements in the Korea Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) among LGUs, illegal recruiters have been using the program’s name for bogus opportunities.
While this may not necessarily be under the control of authorities, what is, is whether or not to help the victims, especially as the Philippine government often highlights how serious it is about curbing illegal recruitment of OFWs.
Sweet demeanor
Many of the OFWs in Lisa’s group had worked abroad before, and were familiar with the correct processes that guaranteed that their deployment was legitimate and safe. Sangullas seemed like someone they could trust. She and her team were able to send photos and videos of other workers they supposedly deployed to Korea.
After all, the monthly salary offered to be a fruit picker was P120,000 for women, and P150,000 for men, with free food and accommodation. An agricultural worker in the Philippines can only dream of earning six digits.
“Honestly, if you could see her, your gut will really tell you to trust her. She was like a mother. She spoke so sweetly. We were so encouraged by her,” said Lisa.
Although the OFWs were aware that they were being recruited for work, Lacson had prepared a document from a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-registered organization called the Triple Farmers Irrigators Group Association, which has addresses in Pampanga and Quezon City. Lacson was an incorporator of the organization, according to its general information sheet filed with the SEC.
This document was an “assembly resolution” that endorsed the names of their group to go on a “study tour” on Jeju Island in Korea. In the resolution, they were now somehow members of the association, and were on their way to Jeju to study “issues and solutions for intensified plantation development.”
The OFWs were also made to pay P30,000 to P50,000 in processing fees, plus another P100,000 that was to be deducted from their salaries once they were deployed. Lacson allegedly collected P3,000 each for the medical exam, and some OFWs were asked to pay P3,000 for a supposed overseas employment certificate.
The group was scheduled to leave on October 14, 2023. They neither had tickets nor visas yet, and were told that these would all be given to them at the airport. All packed and ready, they went to the airport together, but their contacts stopped responding.
Their contact at the airport was a certain Janel Mauy Borja, who was known to them as an immigration officer who allegedly collected bribes of P15,000 each for the “processing of documents.” The Bureau of Immigration confirmed to Rappler that no one with that name is, or was, an employee of the bureau.
Borja reportedly told the OFWs that the recruitment team could arrange another flight. But if they could not wait, she would refund them. Those refunds never came.
Frustrated and scammed, the group brought their complaint in December 2023 to the DMW’s Migrant Workers Protection Bureau, which handles cases of illegal recruitment.
Months of waiting
The OFWs sought help from the DMW to recover at least some of the money that was scammed from them. The DMW’s fund for distressed OFWs is called the Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFWs na Nangangailangan (AKSYON) Fund, and it includes victims of illegal recruitment as beneficiaries. Victims are entitled to P50,000 in aid, based on the current policy.
The DMW has not failed to show the public how exactly it fights illegal recruitment, and how the AKSYON Fund is being spent. Reporters have often been invited to closure operations of agencies illegally recruiting OFWs, and repatriation events at the airport, where the AKSYON Fund is immediately distributed to distressed OFWs.
In June 2024, Sangullas was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for charges of large-scale illegal recruitment and estafa. The news release described other victims from Batangas who were similarly defrauded.
For months, Lisa’s group had waited for even just an assurance that they were qualified AKSYON Fund beneficiaries. Surely, now that their recruiter was arrested, they would be given assistance, they thought.
The group continued to follow up, but were told by DMW personnel to “wait for the approval of guidelines.” Finally, on August 13, the DMW emailed them a document from the Department of Justice. It was the result of an evaluation of their complaint against Sangullas, Caballejo, Lacson, and Borja, which was referred for preliminary investigation.
Their complaint was found to be insufficient for preliminary investigation. But it was dated March 13 — three months before Sangullas was arrested.
“Is there a latest update, ma’am?” Lisa asked the DMW personnel handling her case on August 14 via WhatsApp. “That’s all there is,” came the reply. End of discussion.
Rappler checked on the status of Sangullas’ case. After she was arrested on June 22, she was taken to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) detention facility in Camp Crame. On July 12, the Pasay City metropolitan trial court handling Sangullas’ case committed her to the Pasay City Jail. The court confirmed that her case is still ongoing as of September 26.
On the sidelines of a press conference on October 7, Rappler sought comment from the DMW about the case of Lisa and her group. DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac said they would help, adding that it was “beyond the point” that their particular criminal complaint against Sangullas was dismissed.
“We will help them. We will provide the necessary assistance,” Cacdac said.
With her consent, we supplied Lisa’s details to Undersecretary Felicitas Bay’s office, whose staff said they would get in touch. But as of posting, Lisa has yet to hear from them.
Stopping the broker system
We also brought up with Cacdac the recruitment scheme in Paete. It was the first time he had heard of One Consulting Inc.
“That’s illegal recruitment. If that continues, we will file the necessary cases,” Cacdac said, noting that the department had filed at least 48 criminal cases related to the SWP.
Cacdac also responded to queries about the SWP during the hearing for the DMW’s 2025 budget at the House of Representatives on September 9.
In February, the DMW crafted interim guidelines on the processing of Filipino workers bound for Korea through the SWP. LGUs are required to undertake pre-departure training, ensure that Seasonal Worker Program agreements provide fair and equal treatment of workers, and execute an undertaking that no illegal or unauthorized fees are collected from their SWP workers either in the Philippines or Korea, among others.
Like other workers who go through DMW processes, SWP farmers now also have their contracts vetted by the DMW, which means that these are checked to ensure fair working conditions. They are also made members of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, which provides them various benefits and an extra layer of protection and monitoring.
The DMW has processed over 6,000 workers for deployment in the SWP as of September 13, according to a report the DMW submitted to Gabriela Representative Arlene Brosas, who asked about the program during the budget hearing. Brosas’ office supplied Rappler with a copy of the DMW’s submission.
“We put our foot down,” Cacdac said. “One of our main objectives…. is to stop the broker system here in the Philippines. Recruitment should be free, the-employer-pays principle applies in this scenario, and we do not want payments to be made to brokers, or brokers taking out loans for the workers, which the workers will pay for via salary deductions.”
Cacdac said that whenever the department receives new reports about recruitment with broker involvement, they “go after them on the ground.” Eventually, the DMW wants to develop a government-to-government agreement with South Korea, similar to an arrangement the two countries already have for factory workers.
The DMW also said that some of the individuals involved in the criminal cases it filed were LGU personnel and Koreans.
“It’s still the interim period, so we’re about to issue the more permanent guidelines, which will mean we will really be the recruiting authority, and will give a lesser role to the LGUs…. to completely eliminate the brokers,” said Cacdac on October 7.
According to Center for Migrant Advocacy executive director Ellene Sana, national authorities appeared to have been caught off guard by the reports of abuses when they were first brought to light in 2023. “It took them over a year to step in, and a lot of these people had paid money already, not knowing if they’re being protected. Finally, they heard us,” said Sana.
Sana also said that with the Philippines’ decades of experience in overseas employment, and the straightforwardness of determining whether recruitment of OFWs is legal, action should have been much faster. “It just makes one wonder why the action was so slow.” – with reports from Pierre dela Cruz/Rappler.com
*Names have been changed at the workers’ request for privacy. Quotes have been translated to English for brevity.
