Recall Philippine Consul General to Milan Elmer Cato, several victims of Alpha Assistenza SRL's large-scale recruitment racket demanded yesterday as the diplomatic official was pointed to as coddling the scammers.
They alleged that Cato had "sat" on the complaints filed by their relatives-sponsors against the immigration consultancy agency as far back as July.
"He (Cato) should be recalled to the Philippines because he was not able to properly address the complaints of our relatives, the Filipinos in Milan who were victims of this scam."
"The victims were counting on the embassy official to be their protector in a foreign country," said the group's spokesperson, Apple Cabasis, one of 68 victims who trooped to the Department of Justice on Friday to file formal complaints.
"He (Cato) is giving our relatives in Italy the runaround instead of taking responsibility, which is why he is there in the first place," said another victim, Eddie Natnat.
"Cato should be recalled to the Philippines to serve as an example to other foreign representatives of our country. They should know that it is their duty to help us," said Italy-based Rocan Capitly after he paid Alpha Assistenza to sponsor a family member to Italy.
Cato was assigned to Milan in November 2022, leaving his post as Consul General in New York. He had also served as the Philippine Ambassador to Iraq and Libya.
He was the guest in the 7 September episode of DAILY TRIBUNE's digital show Usapang OFW, where he talked about the Filipino community in Milan and his activities there.
He mentioned that there was currently a "wave" of illegal recruitment in Milan, but he was not at liberty to discuss it so as not to jeopardize their efforts to find the perpetrators.
One victim, Vanessa Antonio, watched the episode and reached out to Usapang OFW to ask for help.
She appeared with other victims, Apple Cabasis, Enrique Catilo, and Alpha Assistenza runner-turned-key witness Socorro Velasquez in the 21 September episode of Usapang OFW.
This set off a series of exclusives by DAILY TRIBUNE, revealing an intricate web of lies and deceit perpetrated by Alpha Assistenza's co-CEOs, Krizelle Respicio and Frederick Dutaro.
Cato blames malicious reporting
In a related development, the "marketing director" of Alpha Assistenza SRL, Jeffrey Villalon, who has since turned against Respicio, recounted his communications with Cato via online messaging.
"He (Cato) began directly communicating with me after I made a public comment on the Philippine Consulate to Milan's official Facebook page, where they posted their official statement on the illegal recruitment issue. Cato himself replied to my comment."
Villalon said Cato began to message him directly to tell him what he had been doing, and expressing "sadness" that he (Cato) was the target of malicious reporting.
On one occasion, Cato sent him a screenshot of a DAILY TRIBUNE banner story with a picture of Respicio and himself.
On at least two occasions, Villalon said Cato called him on his phone, but he did not answer.
Villalon backed up his claims by showing DAILY TRIBUNE his phone messages with Cato.
"In one exchange, I told him I had written a letter to Sen. Risa Hontiveros relating our problem and asking for help. He suggested that I should also send the letter to another senator. Throughout our communication, I was constantly surprised why the consul general was suddenly directly messaging," Vilallon said.
Another key figure in the massive Alpha Assistenza SRL fiasco, Arlyn Pangan, aunt of Respicio, went to DAILY TRIBUNE to clear her name and appeal to her niece to come out in the open.
Pangan said her cousin and Respicio's mother, Edna Mangulabnan, promised to help her go to Italy for cancer treatment if she would help them assist Alpha's visa applicants.
"Edna had asked me a favor to help her daughter assist some of Alpha's visa applicants. I only said yes on account of them being family. Then, they offered to help me go to Italy for cancer treatment at no cost in exchange for my help. It was a great opportunity, and I couldn't refuse the offer," Pangan said.
Everything began to unravel when, on July 21, Pangan discovered that Alpha Assistenza had instructed 88 visa applicants to come to the PIASI to claim their passports and Nulla Osta (work authorization).
All 88 applications were rejected.
