Today, there are Filipinos who graduate from college but are still not able to get a job due to lack of job openings. Since a number of companies decided to close due to bankruptcy this year, more and more fresh graduates find themselves jobless. This is why some resort to finding jobs abroad. A growing number of Filipinos want to find a job abroad since they cannot find one in their own country. This is due to this inflation and desperation that some people do crimes of deception. They pretend to be recruiters and promise Filipinos a job, mostly in the US and ask for money in order to get it.

For 12 Filipino workers, this kind of evil doing came in the form of an illegal recruiter named Yolanda Umbay Alfante, a resident of Pasay City. She promised these 12 workers a job in Saipan and Tinian as different made up jobs such as farmers or as workers. To their dismay, they were informed that they are going to work at a certain restaurant named Kulits which was already closed by the CNMI authorities for accepting workers without a legal working permit even before the 12 workers got there.

Alfante reportedly asked for US$3,000 from each of the 12 workers in order to get hired. Since they were only issued tourist visas, they have to return to the Philippines after 30 days. But since they were victims of illegal recruitment, the CNMI Department of Labor allowed them to stay longer for the reason they only stated as “simple humanitarian reason”

Seven of the 12 workers were already sent home a couple of months ago but these 3, namely Darwin A. Viloria, 37, of Munoz, Nueva Ecija; Noelito Jumawan, 37, of Sariaya, Quezon; and Romeo Tesorero, 44, of Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City will be repatriated soon.

All of them are planning to sue the said illegal recruiter and hope that no more Filipinos fall into their scam

It is such a shame that in the current state of the Philippines where even the fresh graduates of at par universities find it hard to get a job that there are some people that do not have consideration for others and still have the conscience to scam other people for huge amounts of money. No matter how troubled or deep in debt a person may be, it does not give him the right to do any criminal act especially those involving scams that asks for a large amount of money.

It is also quite sad that this news only goes to show that more and more Filipinos want to find a job outside of the country. They are mostly those who have families depending on them. They do not like to be away from their loved ones but in the current economic state, it leaves them no choice.

But somehow, in this tragic story, when the workers got home, they still managed to smile. This is because at least nothing happened to them and when they got home, they still have their families.

Image Credit: Batangbaler