A lawyer of the recruitment agency of the slain overseas Filipina worker (OFW) Joanna Demafelis said that the responsibility on monitoring Demafelis in Kuwait should have been on the government and not on the recruitment agency.
According to Jude Marfil, lawyer of former assistant general manager of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Global E-Human Resources Incorporated, the license of the recruitment agency was already revoked months after they “legally” deployed Demafelis to Kuwait.
He added that the responsibility to monitor Demafelis should have been transferred to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) since they were responsible for revoking the agency’s license.
Marfil also said that the basis of his claim is the provision of the amended Migrant Workers’ Act.
“Ang liability po talaga ngayon is already with the POEA and the OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) po, sila na po ‘yan, dahil wala na pong buhay ang ahensiya,” he said.
“If you open an agency na wala ka nang license, you run the risk of committing illegal recruitment. The moment na wala nang license, ano gagawin ng isang agency. Magkaka-absurd situation. Let’s say, from 2014 to 2016, ibig sabihin, monitoring nalang kami?” he added.
Marfil explained that the agency closed in 2014, thus operating under the 2002 POEA rules. It was only in 2016 that POEA revised its rules and regulations on the recruitment and employment of land-based OFWs. One of the revisions stated that the licensed recruitment agency is responsible to “monitor the status or condition” of its deployed OFWs. He claims that the revision also stated that the agency should submit a quarterly report on the situation of the OFW deployed.
Moreover, Marfil added that POEA should have monitored Demafelis through their online database which contains information about all OFWs deployed overseas.
“Ang sistema nila ay pagprocess online… Di naman nila nirequire agency na iturn over documents..Dapat alam na nila yun..dahil asa online system nila,” Marfil said.
Marfil, however, clarified that despite denying responsibility for monitoring Demafelis, the agency is still willing to extend help toward the family of Demafelis.
