The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said a Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Bangkok, Thailand, will soon operate as part of efforts to address the growing number of Filipinos being recruited to work illegally across Southeast Asia.

This follows continuous reports from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) of Filipinos intercepted at airports who were promised jobs as customer service or sales representatives but later forced to work as scammers.

She added that a labor attaché has already been nominated for Thailand and that local staff will also be hired.

A formal announcement on MWO Bangkok is expected this October, while an MWO in Cambodia is also up for approval.

To establish an MWO abroad, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) submits an intention letter through the Department of Foreign Affairs, which then transmits it to the host government. The Philippines must then wait for the host country’s approval before the office can be opened.

“I am appealing that there are many jobs in the database of DMW, they can check the website of DMW… please, let’s go there instead, because many of our countrymen are already being victimized,” Caunan said. “I’ll be very honest, the reports we receive include cases where they are beaten up, chained; these kinds of scenarios are really true.”

The OWWA administrator also warned of cases involving Filipinos recruited to Europe, where victims pay as much as €10,000 (P300,000–P600,000) to recruiters, lured by offers of factory, hotel, or restaurant jobs with promised salaries of €2,000, only to end up with less than €500 or no work at all.

Recently, the Croatian Employment Services, in partnership with the DMW, opened around 435 job opportunities under a government-to-government hiring program, consisting of 255 openings for room attendants, 110 waiters, and 70 cooks.