CLOSED. Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac leads the entrapment and closure operation of Thrifty International Travel and Tours, Inc. in Mandaluyong City on Friday (Aug. 30, 2024). Two employees of the illegal recruitment firm were arrested after receiving marked money from an undercover agent. (Photo courtesy of DMW)
MANILA – The Department of Migrant Workers issued a closure order against a travel agency in Mandaluyong City allegedly involved in illegal recruitment.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac led the closure and entrapment operations on Friday against Thrifty International Travel and Tours, Inc., which reportedly charged exorbitant fees from applicants.
Two were arrested after they were caught receiving marked money from an undercover agent, who posed as an applicant looking for work in Japan.
“Caught red-handed ang dalawang empleyado nito (Two employees were caught red-handed). It's an entrapment and closure operation actually,” Cacdac said in a news release.
The undercover agent was offered a job as a household worker in Japan with a PHP60,000 monthly salary, Cacdac said.
“He was charged PHP120,000 and was told to pay PHP60,000 as downpayment. And that’s how we caught them, that's the marked money, the PHP60,000,” he added.
The agency, which also offers jobs in Italy, has no recruitment license from the DMW, Cacdac said.
On Thursday, the DMW also shuttered Volant Academy for Language Excellence, Inc. in Brgy. Lumil, Silang, Cavite for recruiting its students to Germany without necessary documents from the government.
Before the actual closure, the DMW’s Migrant Workers Protection Bureau (MWPB) conducted surveillance where it was revealed that Volant offered postings in Germany for nurses/caregivers, auto mechanics, bakers, butchers, restaurant specialists, and security specialists with a promise of PHP60,000 monthly salary.
The MWPB said applicants were required to undergo a dual training program combining vocational and on-the-job training.
Volant promised their trainees full-time jobs using a student visa and charged them PHP515,900 for processing, language training and practical job training.
Volant admitted to deploying almost 200 students to Germany. (PNA)
