DMW shuts down Ortigas firm over alleged illegal recruitment

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has closed down a tourism consultancy agency in Ortigas, Pasig City on Friday, 4 September, for its alleged involvement in an illegal recruitment scheme targeting Filipinos seeking employment in Bulgaria, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Migrant Workers Assistant Secretary Jerome Alcantara, along with the Migrant Workers Protection Bureau, led closure operations on Friday, 4 September, against Anecon Tourism Consultancy after discovering the company's alleged recruitment activities despite lacking a recruitment license from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

"It started with a referral report from the Bureau of Immigration when they discovered that Anecon Tourism Consultancy had deployed 83 workers, mostly to Bulgaria. Among them, 10 workers were offloaded and 70 managed to depart. Because of this, the Bureau of Immigration requested assistance to investigate the matter," Alcantara said.

The company's modus operandi includes offering jobs such as chambermaids, cooks, waitstaff, and amusement park attendants in Bulgaria, Germany, and the United Kingdom, with a promised salary ranging from P150,000 to P300,000. The said job offers are being offered by the company under the Au Pair and Ausbildung Program.

Meanwhile, the DMW reminded Filipino job seekers looking for employment abroad to be discerning of companies offering overseas employment, especially those using travel, visa consultancy, study abroad, or training programs as a means to recruit applicants.

The said illegal recruitment firms are the 42nd establishment shut down by the DMW-Migrant Workers Protection Bureau this 2026. This is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to protect OFWs and to crack down on illegal recruiters and human traffickers.