Authorities arrested an illegal recruiter for asking cash from an overseas Filipina worker (OFW) in exchange of release of her passport.
OFW Rosemarie Rodil sought the help of the Manila Police General Assignment and Investigation Section of the Manila Police District to retrieve her passport withheld by her former recruitment agency which has since closed, reported ABS-CBN News.
Rodil said illegal recruiter Lalaine Gomez, a former staff of the recruitment agency, has been asking her Php7,000 for the release of her passport.
Rodil said that she could not apply for a new recruitment agency which would give her a job to the Middle East because of the withheld passport. The OFW added that she has since been living under debt due to unemployment and the expenses from her former recruitment agency.
“Hindi daw po mai-release ‘yung passport sa agency kasi walang pangtubos,” Rodil said.
Following an entrapment operations by the Police, Gomez was arrested and admitted that she has been operating alone since the recruitment agency closed.
Rodil will be charged with illegal holding of passport.
The authorities, meanwhile, reminded aspiring OFWs to check if job posts are authorized by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and to only deal with accredited recruitment agencies to avoid facing any problems.
