A chapel in Rizal facilitating the illegal recruitment of Filipinos was shut down by Philippine authorities on Monday.

The chapel, located in Sitio Paenaan, Baras, was identified as the Faithful Promise of Jesus Christ the Greatest Master Phil. Inc., also known as the Faithful Promise Church in the Philippines. It had reportedly been recruiting individuals under the guise of religious missionaries.

According to Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Undersecretary for Licensing and Adjudication Bernard Olalia, the first victims of the chapel’s illegal operations were its own parishioners. He added that the victims were issued tourist visas and instructed to tell immigration authorities that they were missionaries.

“They are being deployed as missionaries... of course, if you're a missionary, our immigration officers won’t scrutinize too much, but it was discovered because they were offloaded during the interview before going abroad, it turned out they were actually going to work,” Olalia said.

DMW Assistant Secretary Jerome Alcantara emphasized that most victims were bound for Japan for construction work and other elementary occupations. Other promised jobs included factory workers, tea pickers, clerks, accountants, and mechanical engineers in Korea and Papua New Guinea, with salaries starting from P36,000 to P120,000.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Cavite North District Office Chief Czar Eric Nuqui said applicants were charged P50,000 in processing fees and for other documents as supposed “community workers.” He noted that some of those deployed found no jobs upon arrival.

Authorities have arrested Pastora Esclarmonde Estrada Basalio, who allegedly recruited the workers. Investigations by the DMW and NBI are ongoing to identify other victims and individuals involved in the scheme.