Manila-based recruitment agencies under scrutiny after violations

Several Philippine Recruitment Agencies (PRAs) located along Ermita have been flagged by authorities for violations following inspections by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

Among those inspected on Monday was Fennex Recruitment Agency, where an employee was working without proper registration. According to DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac, agencies are required to register not only the company but also the personnel involved in the hiring process.

FEMEX is also being inspected if it is linked to a practice known as a ‘tie-up’ system or ‘kabit system’ where unauthorized individuals rent spaces or tables within legitimate agency offices posing as official recruiters.

Super Red Manpower, another agency inspected, was cited for accommodation violations. Upon inspection, the agency had been housing around 10 workers in accommodation in Tayuman that had not been registered for occupancy.

According to a staff of Super Red, submission of requirements for their accommodation had been scheduled to coincide with their upcoming license renewal.

"Because we’re supposed to submit it when we renew. We’ll submit it together with our renewal, because previously, we weren’t required,” the staff explained.

The DMW ordered for the agency’s temporary shutdown pending compliance.

Meanwhile, Care International Placement Corporation was found to have committed a recruitment violation after an employee on vacation recruited workers in Mindanao.

“They were hired from Cotabato by an employee here who was on vacation in Mindanao, that’s illegal, because I asked if they had a branch in Mindanao, none; that’s illegal," said Cacdac. "It’s illegal for any agency personnel to recruit outside of the office if there is no branch in the city or municipality where they were recruited."

The DMW said that several staff members involved in the flagged practices will undergo investigation and will be given due process before any formal charges are filed.