By: Neil Arwin Mercado, INQINQUIRER.net, 25 Sep 2019
MANILA, Philippines — Two minors, aged 14 and 17, were maltreated after being illegally deployed to Saudi Arabia to work as domestic helpers, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said Wednesday.
POEA administrator Bernard Olalia said the minors were among the distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were repatriated on Monday.
The minors were not only maltreated; the 14-year-old minor was also sexually abused.
The 14-year-old minor was recruited by LGH International Services while the 17-year-old was recruited by Side International Manpower Inc., Olalia said.
Olalia added that during an interview at their office, the 14-year-old minor revealed that her papers were processed in Cotabato City.
The pieces of information provided in her passport, the 14-year-old minor revealed, were fake. The passports were released by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Cotabato City.
The POEA administrator said they would be filing a criminal and administrative charges against the recruitment agency for engaging in illegal recruitment and human trafficking.
DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III has ordered the preventive suspension of the recruitment agencies pending the investigation.
“Apart from the administrative cases, sasamahan din namin ang minors na magsampa ng illegal recruitment case. Ito ay criminal case to be filed against the same persons involved sa kanyang deployment,” Olalia said in a press briefing at DOLE’s office in Manila./ac
[Apart from the administrative cases, we will also assist the minors in filing an illegal recruitment case. This is a criminal case to be filed against the same persons involved in her deployment.]
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
